Meanings
noundabbawalla (plural dabbawallas)
plural dabbawallas · alternative dabbawala · alternative dabbawallah
- IndiaA deliveryperson in Mumbai, India who collects freshly cooked food in lunchboxes from workers' residences (mostly in the suburbs), delivers it to their respective workplaces, and returns the empty containers.
“There is a service called FedEx that is similar to ours — but they don’t deliver lunch,” said one dabbawalla, Dhondu Kondaji Chowdhury.
2007 May 29, Saritha Rai, “In India, Grandma Cooks, They Deliver”, in New York Times
Origin
- Hindiडब्बावाला
- Marathiडबेवाला
- Englishdabbawalla
Borrowed from Marathi डबेवाला (ḍabevālā), Hindi डब्बावाला (ḍabbāvālā), literally "person with a box".
More words from Marathi, Hindi
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
dabbawalla. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dabbawalla
MLA
“dabbawalla.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dabbawalla. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dabbawalla,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dabbawalla.
Source: dabbawalla on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.