clerk
Other forms: clerks; clerking; clerked
A clerk is an office worker who does various paper work and often keeps accounts of money or other details. An office clerk might answer the phone, file papers, or organize computer records.
A clerical worker is one kind of clerk, and another is the person behind a counter at a store who rings up sales on a cash register. The clerk at your favorite bookstore might also recommend the best new books. Clerk originally had a religious meaning, from cleric, which meant both "ordained person" and "literate person." Because of this second meaning, clerk came to mean "anyone who can read or write."
Definitions of clerk
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an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
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types:
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desk clerk, hotel clerk, hotel desk clerk
a hotel receptionist
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file clerk, filer, filing clerk
a clerk who is employed to maintain the files of an organization
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paper-pusher
a clerk or bureaucrat who does paperwork
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pencil pusher, penpusher
a clerk who does boring paperwork
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mapper, plotter
a clerk who marks data on a chart
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mail clerk, postal clerk
a clerk in a post office
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settler
a clerk in a betting shop who calculates the winnings
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shipping clerk
an employee who ships and receives goods
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sorter
a clerk who sorts things (as letters at the post office)
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tally clerk, tallyman
one who keeps a tally of quantity or weight of goods produced or shipped or received
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timekeeper
a clerk who keeps track of the hours worked by employees
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room clerk
a hotel clerk who is responsible for room assignments to guests
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type of:
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employee
a worker who is hired to perform a job
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a salesperson in a store
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synonyms:
salesclerk, shop assistant, shop clerk
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type of:
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sales rep, sales representative, salesperson
a person employed to represent a business and to sell its merchandise (as to customers in a store or to customers who are visited)
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sales rep, sales representative, salesperson
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work as a clerk, as in the legal business
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type of:
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work
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
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work
Pronunciation
US
/klərk/
UK
/klɑk/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘clerk'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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