dumbwaiter

noun

dumb·​wait·​er ˈdəm-ˌwā-tər 

ˌdəm-ˈwā-

1

: a portable serving table or stand

2

: a small elevator used for conveying food and dishes from one story of a building to another

Examples of dumbwaiter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The house has two garages, a casita and a second-floor patio with a dumbwaiter. —Catherine Reagor, The Arizona Republic, 6 Dec. 2024

To one side is the sleek chef’s kitchen, equipped with a dumbwaiter and top-of-the-line appliances by Wolf and Miele. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 21 Nov. 2024

Features: Fireplaces, year-round sun room, screen porches, formal dining room, butler's pantry with working dumbwaiter, phone room, billiard room, bar area, pond. Take a look around... All photos by Homecoming Photography. —Audrey Kennedy, Axios, 18 Oct. 2024

Though the renovation was largely a project of modernizing the home, the old-fashioned addition of a dumbwaiter (seen at far right in the above photo) is what made the upside-down plan totally livable. —Madeleine Luckel, Architectural Digest, 16 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1730, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dumbwaiter

• coater
• creator
• curator
• debater
• deflator
• dictator
• dilator
• equator
• locator
• mutator
• piscator
• pronator

Kids Definition

dumbwaiter

noun

dumb·​wait·​er ˈdəm-ˈwāt-ər 

: a small elevator for carrying food or goods from one story to another