Dictionary

conductorette en · NOUN

Etymology

From conductor + -ette.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) A female bus, streetcar or train conductor.
   • 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.” 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 34, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 227:
   • 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. 1962, Edgar Snow, chapter 68, in The Other Side of the River: Red China Today, New York: Random House, page 523:
   • 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. 1919, Charles Hanson Towne, chapter 3, in Shaking Hands with England, New York: George H. Doran, pages 41–42:

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