Meaning & use
boot boy
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Meanings
nouncountableold-fashionedBritish
A young male servant whose main job was cleaning and polishing boots, especially at a hotel or in a wealthy household.
Grammar: Countable: one boot boy, two boot boys.
Patterns
- work as a boot boy
- a boot boy at a hotel
In the 1920s, he worked as a boot boy at a grand London hotel.
The boot boy had to polish dozens of pairs of shoes before breakfast.
nouncountableBritishinformal
A member of a 1970s British youth subculture known for shaved heads, heavy boots, and aggressive behavior at football matches.
Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural to refer to the group.
Patterns
- a gang of boot boys
- dressed like a boot boy
The boot boys gathered outside the stadium before the match.
He adopted the boot boy look with a shaved head and steel-toed boots.
Word forms
| plural | boot boys |
|---|
Common combinations
- work as a boot boy
- He worked as a boot boy to pay for his studies.
- a boot boy at a hotel
- The hotel employed a boot boy to keep guests' shoes clean.
- boot boy subculture
- The boot boy subculture was linked to football hooliganism.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shoeshine boy
- More common in American English for a boy who polishes shoes, often on the street rather than in a hotel.
- hooligan
- A broader term for a violent troublemaker; a boot boy is specifically part of a 1970s subculture.
Commonly confused: boot boy or bootblack?
boot boy vs bootblack
A bootblack is a person who polishes shoes, often as a street trade; a boot boy was a servant in a hotel or house.
Practice
In the 1920s, a boot boy was most likely to be found working in which place?
Choose one answer.
A boot boy worked in a hotel or wealthy home cleaning boots. A factory, farm, or school is not the typical setting for this job.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “boot boy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.