altar boy

a male altar server.

Origin of altar boy

First recorded in 1765–75

How you ever got beyond being an altar-boy is more than I can see.

Fanny Herself |Edna Ferber
After some hesitation Weasel took the gun, holding it stiffly in front of him, as an altar-boy might a sacred thing.

John Ermine of the Yellowstone |Frederic Remington
An assistant priest and a barefooted Mexican altar-boy stood framed in the arch of the ancient portal.

Mariposilla |Mary Stewart Daggett
If you don't mind I'll stay outside in the hall, and rush in to act as altar-boy, when she agrees to 'vert.

The Art of Disappearing |John Talbot Smith

He served the mass, an altar-boy at the Convent of the Propagation, and revealed unpleasant traits of character.

Egoists |James Huneker

altar boy

RC Church Church of England a boy serving as an acolyte