desk clerk
14
2.1
- noun
- /dɛsk klɜrk/
:
recepcionista
- Upon arrival at the hotel, the desk clerk greeted us warmly and handed us the room keys.
And I think ultimately what makes it transcendent is the moments of him in the pool underwater or him with the desk clerk at the hotel.
- And I think ultimately what makes it transcendent is the moments of him in the pool underwater or him with the desk clerk at the hotel.
- So they're with us for three months, front desk clerk.
- And the front desk clerk was convinced that my boss had cancer.
Examples
-
Charlie looks back at the desk clerk and grabs the key.
Fiction book (1993) -
The front desk clerk steps from behind his desk and hurries into the lobby.
Fiction book (1990) -
I know what the desk clerk told you.
-
Otherwise the desk clerk will sign you off at nine.
-
I got that from the desk clerk.
-
"All right," the desk clerk said, "what brings you here today?"
Fiction book (2001) -
I got my orders from the desk clerk downstairs.
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The desk clerk asked why we were making so many calls to D.C.
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The desk clerk seemed to be a little bit suspicious.
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Back at the hotel, the desk clerk gave her two memo slips.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
110
1.1
A person who helps customers and handles sales at a shop
86
2.6
A person who greets visitors, answers the phone, and gives information at an office or hotel
2
2.0
A person at a hotel's front desk who greets guests and handles check-ins and check-outs
1
2.7
A person at the front desk of a hotel who helps guests
1
3.7
A person who works at a desk in an office or hotel reception helping visitors
How Senior
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly predictable from combining 'desk' (a piece of furniture with a flat surface) and 'clerk' (an employee who handles customers), yielding 'a clerk who works at a desk' such as reception staff. This straightforward noun+noun composition is common in English and other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Desk clerk comes from two simple ideas: a desk, a table for work, and a clerk, a person who writes and helps others. Imagine someone at a desk greeting guests, taking reservations and handing out keys, so the phrase means the person at a hotel's front desk who 'helps guests'.