bell captain
1
6.2
- noun
- /bɛl ˈkæptɪn/
- US
:
jefe de botones
- The bell captain assisted the guests with their luggage as they arrived at the hotel.
Examples
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He's a bell captain here.
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On top of Kirov's shirt, I am wearing a Giorgio Armani jacket that Freddie, the bell captain, took out of the room of some Colombian who was shot in Hialeah.
Fiction book (1994) -
Strange that the man who helped me looked exactly like the former bell captain.
Blog text (13) -
Well, you should have told that to Frankie, the bell captain.
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She walked back into the hotel and presented her key to the bell captain.
Fiction book (1992) -
And the bell captain and his storm-trooper tactics.
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Why don't you talk to Frankie, the bell captain?
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He worked up from horse tender to bellboy to bell captain by the age of fifteen.
Fiction book (1995) -
William, in his role as bell captain, was able to extend his own hours for the extra money and for the freedom from witnessing his father's agony.
Fiction book (1995) -
Giza recoiled, and Heidi glared at him just long enough to command the attention of the bell captain, but not long enough to have the boy apprehended.
Fiction book (2002)
How Senior
Surface Forms
Morphology
bell + captain
The element 'captain' clearly signals a supervisory or leader role, but 'bell' here is a metonym referring to bellboys/bell staff (hotel porters) rather than the literal ringing device. This is an industry-specific compound whose exact sense (supervisor of bellboys) is not fully predictable to a B1 learner who only knows the literal meanings, so prior exposure or contextual knowledge of hotel staff terminology is needed.
Etymology
The noun bell captain comes from hotel life: bell refers to the 'bellboy' who answered the bell at the front desk and carried guests' bags. Captain means the 'leader', so the bell captain is the person who organizes the bellboys and their work.