Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A volunteer worker in a hospital.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun US A
volunteer worker in ahospital orhospice . - noun US One who cheers others up with their youthful exuberance.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a volunteer worker in a hospital
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[From the resemblance of the volunteer's red and white striped uniform to a candy cane.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
1944 US, due to red and white-striped jumpers worn by hospital volunteers, which resembled stick candy, originally a group of high school girls who volunteered as hospital workers at East Orange General Hospital.
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Examples
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treeseed commented on the word candy striper
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: from the striped uniform worn suggesting the stripes on some sticks of candy
Date: 1963
: a teenage volunteer worker at a hospital
February 3, 2008