stewardess

plural stewardesses · humorous nonstandard plural stewardii

1. datedA female flight attendant (a member of the crew of an airplane who is responsible for the comfort and safety of its passengers).
2. A woman who works at housekeeping and passenger service aboard a ship, yacht, or other type of boat that carries passengers.

   Certainly a stewardess who may have fifty or even a hundred passengers to look after cannot give much attention to nursing, even if she knows how.

   1905, The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review - Volume 35, page 296

   3 more examples

   She usually rang for the stewardess early, but this morning of course there had been no ring. The stewardess had gone in all the same about eight o'clock and found the cabin empty.

   1888 September, Henry James, “The Patagonia”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, volume 5, page 782

   He regarded the tray with apprehension, then with dismay as the stewardess said: "She's just rung for breakfast in bed, going to stay there all day as she feels a cold coming."

   1997, Violet Jessop, John Maxtone-Graham, Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Violet Jessop who Survived Both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters, page 195

   I came into the industry as a chef with restaurant and catering experience but no real understanding of what the whole role of "stewardess" entailed on board.

   2013, Julie Perry, The Insiders' Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess

3. A female steward (any sense).

   The kitchen stewardess says madam sits there glaring at the paper on the wall.

   2013, Tanith Lee, A Heroine of the World

   4 more examples

   The stewardess, principal inspector of the cow stable and the butter establishment, was indeed with the young lady, who had just entered the yard.

   1898, Luise Mühlbach, The Reign of the Great Elector, page 105

   The occasion – the very first trip of a stewardess on Capitol, eastbound B & O […]

   1957, Baltimore and Ohio Employes Magazine - Volumes 43-44, page 15

   Arbitrator John Day Larkin upholds the discharge of a female employee who had a fight with a union stewardess on a company parking lot.

   1968, Daily Labor Report, page 4

   On the transfer of any hostess or stewardess from one permanent base to another, the employer shall pay the expenses properly incurred by the hostess or stewardess for the removal of her dependants, her furniture, and personal effects, such expenses to be mutually agreed upon.

   1971, New Zealand. Department of Labour, Awards, Agreements, Orders, and Decisions Made Under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, the Apprentices Act, the Labour Disputes Investigation Act, and Other Industrial Legislation for the Year 1970, page 3860