coasting waiter
Preserved but no longer current.
An officer of Customs in the Port of London, whose duty it was to visit and make a return of coasting vessels which (from the nature of their cargo) were not re- quired to report or make entry at the Custom House, but which were liable to the payment of certain small dues. The coasting waiter collected these, and searched the cargo for contraband goods.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “coasting waiter” mean?
An officer of Customs in the Port of London, whose duty it was to visit and make a return of coasting vessels which (from the nature of their cargo) were not re- quired to report or make entry at the Custom House, but which were liable to the payment of certain small dues. The coasting waiter collected these, and searched the cargo for contraband goods.
Is “coasting waiter” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.