Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A man employed as a servant to wait at table, attend the door, and run various errands, as in a palace.
- noun A foot soldier; an infantryman.
- noun One who travels on foot; a pedestrian.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A soldier who marches and fights on foot.
- noun A walker; a pedestrian.
- noun Formerly, a runner in attendance upon a person of rank; later, a servant who ran before his master's carriage for the purpose of rendering assistance on bad roads or in crossing streams, but mainly as a mark of the consequence of the traveler: distinctively called a running footman.
- noun In later and present use, a male servant whose duty it is to attend the door, the carriage, the table, etc.; a man in waiting.
- noun A stand of brass or other metal placed in front of a fire to hold anything which is to be kept hot.
- noun In entomology, one of certain bombycid moths; a lithosiid.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A soldier who marches and fights on foot; a foot soldier.
- noun A man in waiting; a male servant whose duties are to attend the door, the carriage, the table, etc.
- noun Formerly, a servant who ran in front of his master's carriage; a runner.
- noun A metallic stand with four feet, for keeping anything warm before a fire.
- noun (Zoöl.) A moth of the family
Lithosidæ ; -- so called from its livery-like colors.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
soldier who marches and fights on foot; a foot soldier. - noun A man in waiting; a male
servant whose duties are to attend the door, the carriage, the table, etc. - noun Formerly, a servant who ran in front of his master's carriage; a runner.
- noun A metallic stand with four feet, for keeping anything warm before a fire.
- noun zoology A
moth of the family Lithosidae; -- so called from its livery-like colors.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a man employed as a servant in a large establishment (as a palace) to run errands and do chores
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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We have used the English term footman to indicate what is usually called a waiter in this country.
Manners and Social Usages Mrs. John M. E. W. Sherwood
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The word footman does not refer to that class of servants who are badged and dressed in livery to gratify the pride of their masters, nor to that description of foot-soldiers or infantry, whose business is designated by the blood-stained colour of their clothes.
Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 John Bunyan 1658
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'abundance of art, to be sure she has; for I'll answer for it, this intrigue with a footman is not the first by many; but, poor woman, her charms are in their wane now, so the man is a substitute for the master.'
The Castle of Wolfenbach Eliza 1793
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‘All these things put together, excited their curiosity; and they engaged a peery servant, as they called a footman who was drinking with Kit. the hostler, at the tap-house, to watch all her motions.
Clarissa Harlowe 2006
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Dolokhov put away the money, called a footman whom he ordered to bring something for them to eat and drink before the journey, and went into the room where Khvostikov and Makarin were sitting.
War and Peace 2003
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He carried a riding crop-a leather-wrapped handle on a sharp, hooked piece of steel that might have been called a footman's pick back in Argive.
Bloodlines Coleman, Loren L. 1999
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If they were the famed dragonlances-and they certainly looked it-they were the type known as the footman's lance, shorter and lighter than the mounted lances that were fixed on the dragon saddles.
Dragons Of Summer Flame Weis, Margaret 1995
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"Will your majesty permit me to call the footman, and ask him to hurry up the postilion?" said Madame von Berg, leaning out of the window.
Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia F. [Translator] Jordan
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She took us down another stairway into a vast hall filled with paintings and statuary, where a man in a dark blue suit and silver braid (I suppose that's what you'd call a footman in livery), stood stiffly as the statues around him.
The Camp Fire Girls Go Motoring Or, Along the Road That Leads the Way 1924
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That the household was once more without a footman was a hard fact.
Anthony Lyveden Dornford Yates 1922
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