Definition of "parlourmaid" [parlourmaid]

• A maid who takes care of the parlour. (noun)

Wiktionary.org : Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

• "High up on the wall of the vaulted passage was a junction-box of wires and bells, and when one of these bells was set ringing, calling the parlourmaid upstairs, she took me with her, so that I might peep past the green baize curtain that separated the front of the house from the back."
• "So long as the ordinary stage idea of a parlourmaid was a saucy nymph with a feather brush and very short skirts, so long would dramatists strive in vain to exalt her calling."
• "Porters scuttle to take m'lady's bags, cheeky teenagers are suddenly lost for words, and even Rose, now elevated from head parlourmaid to housekeeper, bites her tongue and nods respectfully when Lady A starts spouting nonsense."