room servicen.
/ˈruːm ˌsəːvɪs/, /ˈrʊm ˌsəːvɪs/, U.S. /ˈrum ˌsərvəs/, /ˈrʊm ˌsərvəs/ 1. The provision of a telephone service to individual rooms, offices, etc. disused.
ΚΠ
1909 Pacific Telephone Mag. Feb. 17/1 It has been found that the amount of business and collections from these telephones remain practically unchanged after the addition of room service.
1921 G. P. Watkins Electrical Rates vi. 171 A hotel attempted to collect 10 cents a call for both room service and public corridor booths. The telephone company tried to adjust its rates to permit the practice.
2.
a. A service provided in a hotel allowing guests to order food and drink to be brought to their rooms.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > serving food > [noun] > types of service
table service1620
room service1916
waitressing1936
waitress service1960
silver service1970
1916 Brit. Ruling Cases V. 354 An apartment house called ‘The Apthorp’.., in which there was no public dining room and no room service furnished, was held not entitled to enjoin the use of the same name by a hotel.
1921 A. Bailey Vignettes San Francisco 53 This friend of mine can go to the room telephone and say.., ‘Room service, please,’ and order a meal in her room with almost negligence.
1930 A. Bennett Imperial Palace vii. 32 The head floors-waiter did not conceal his belief that the room-service was the basis of prosperity.
2006 R. Chandrasekaran Imperial Life in Emerald City (2007) i. 18 The room service was so abysmal that we had installed our own kitchen..in one of the rooms.
b. The department providing this service.
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1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xxiv. 311 If you go to that phone and call Room Service, you can get all the champagne you want.
1965 I. Fleming Man with Golden Gun vii. 94 Order what you want from Room Service.
2005 Femina (S. Afr.) Feb. 110/1 You could just drift out onto a recliner with a glass of room service's best Planters cocktail.
Compounds
General attributive.
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1971 R. Thomas Backup Men xviii. 156 The room service waiter..brought the hamburgers and coffee.
1974 P. Gore-Booth With Great Truth & Respect 155 The only way I found of getting any relaxation at all was to be extravagant and have ‘room service’ breakfast.
1978 Time 3 July 47/2 Half-eaten room-service sandwiches.
2007 Condé Nast Traveller May 36/1 The Jumeirah Carlton Tower does offer an ‘Arabian mezze’ platter on its room-service menu.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1909