chief cook and bottle washer
Also found in: Acronyms.
chief cook and bottle washer
One who is involved in many aspects of a particular situation. Because so many people have left our department recently, I'm the chief cook and bottle washer, doing every little task that comes up.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
chief cook and bottle washer
Fig. the person in charge of practically everything (such as in a very small business). I'm the chief cook and bottle washer around here. I do everything.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
chief cook and bottlewasher
A person in charge of numerous duties, both vital and trivial, as in We have no secretaries or clerks; the department head is chief cook and bottlewasher and does it all . [Slang; c. 1840]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
chief cook and bottle-washer
a person who performs a variety of important but routine tasks. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
chief cook and bottle washer
verbMcGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
chief cook and bottle washer
Individual who has most of the many and quite varied responsibilities in an enterprise. This slangy Americanism originated in the first half of the 1800s. Alluding to kitchen duties, the term is used far more broadly, as in “Mr. Miller described himself as the ‘president, chief cook and bottle washer’ of his company” (New York Times, Nov. 7, 1992).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer