conductorette

English

Etymology

conductor +‎ -ette

Noun

conductorette (plural conductorettes)

  1. (obsolete) A female bus, streetcar or train conductor.
    • 1919, Charles Hanson Towne, chapter 3, in Shaking Hands with England, New York: George H. Doran, pages 41–42:
      One misty day I was riding on top of a ’bus, and when the conductorette came to get my fare, she leaned over the seat in front of mine, and kissed the wounded soldier who was sitting there.
    • 1962, Edgar Snow, chapter 68, in The Other Side of the River: Red China Today‎, New York: Random House, page 523:
      A man riding a bicycle had run into the tail end of our train when his brakes failed. A conductorette happened to see the accident and reported it to the engineer.
    • 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 34, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‎, New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 227:
      On the streetcar, I put my fare into the box and the conductorette looked at me with the usual hard eyes of white contempt. “Move into the car, please move on in the car.”
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