English

Alternative forms

• chief cook and bottle-washer
• head cook and bottle washer
• head cook and bottle-washer
• head chef and bottle-washer

Noun

chief cook and bottle washer ‎(plural chief cooks and bottle washers)

1. • 1809, Bartlett Jere Whiting, quoting Abraham B. Lindsley, Love and Friendship; or, Yankee Notions: A Comedy in Three Acts, quoted in Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, Dramatic Repository, Shakespeare-Gallery: D Longworth, ISBN 978-1297777387, Act II, page 40:

     Why sometimes I acts cook, steward, cabin boy, sailor, mate, and bottle washer, for matter 'f that, for there's on'y four on us aboard on her;

2. (humorous, informal) Someone whose responsibilities include absolutely everything, from the highest level (chief cook) to the lowest (bottle washer)