behind the counter
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Working in a service industry, especially in retail or food service.
Literally: physically behind a counter
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Tom usually stands behind the counter.Tom thường đứng sau quầy.
Tatoeba sentence #7732063 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “behind the counter” mean?
Working in a service industry, especially in retail or food service. Literally: physically behind a counter
Is “behind the counter” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.