conductorette

conductorette

English

Etymology

conductor +‎ -ette

Noun

conductorette (plural conductorettes)

1. (obsolete) A female bus, streetcar or train conductor.
   • 1919, Charles Hanson Towne, Shaking Hands with England, New York: George H. Doran, Chapter 3, pp. 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, The Other Side of the River: Red China Today, New York: Random House, Chapter 68, p. 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, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, 1971, Chapter 34, p. 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.”