DictionaryAI

dresser

noun
USDRES-er/ˈdɹɛsɚ/UKDRES-uh/ˈdɹɛsə/

Pluraldressers

12 meanings of dresser

Practice

  1. 1
    nounUScountable
    A piece of bedroom furniture with drawers for clothes, often with a mirror on top.

    She keeps her socks in the top drawer of her dresser.

    He put the photo on the dresser next to his bed.

    Similarbureau, chest, chiffonier

    Note
  2. 2
    nounUKcountable
    A tall kitchen cabinet with open shelves on top, used for storing plates and cups.

    Grandma's blue plates stood in a row on the kitchen dresser.

    He took two mugs down from the dresser and made tea.

    Similarhutch, sideboard, cupboard, buffet

    Note
  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A person who chooses and wears clothes in a certain way.

    My uncle is a sharp dresser who always wears a nice suit.

    She's a casual dresser, even at fancy parties.

    Note
  4. 4
    nouncountable
    A person whose job is to help actors put on their costumes.

    The dresser helped the actor change costumes between scenes.

    Backstage, two dressers waited with the queen's heavy gown.

    Note
  5. 5
    nouncountable
    A servant who helps a king, queen, or other important person get dressed.

    The queen's dresser laid out her gown for the ceremony.

    Each morning the dresser brought the prince his clothes and helped him into them.

    Similarvalet, attendant

    Note
  6. 6
    nouncountable
    A helper who works with a surgeon and takes care of patients' wounds.

    The dresser cleaned the wound and wrapped it with a fresh bandage.

    Before the operation, the surgeon sent his dresser to check on the patients.

    Note
  7. 7
    nounUKcountable
    A British football fan from a violent fan group who wears expensive designer clothes.

    The dressers stood outside the pub in their expensive jackets before the match.

    Police watched one well-known dresser as he followed his team across the country.

    Similarcasual

    Note
  8. 8
    nouncountable
    A worker who cuts and shapes stone to give it a smooth finish.

    The dresser shaped each block of stone before the builders used it.

    Dressers worked at the quarry, smoothing the rough granite slabs.

    Similarstonecutter, stonemason, mason, hewer

    Note
  9. 9
    nouncountable
    A machine that breaks rock from a mine into pieces and sorts them.

    The dresser crushed the rock into small pieces ready for sorting.

    Workers fed cartloads of rock into the dresser all day long.

    Similarseparator

  10. 10
    nouncountable
    A machine in a flour mill that separates the fine flour from the rough parts of the grain.

    The dresser sorted the ground wheat into soft flour and rough bits.

    The miller stopped the dresser to replace its worn cloth.

    Similarbolter

  11. 11
    nouncountable
    A heavy tool with a point, used for breaking large pieces of coal into shape.

    The miner swung his dresser to break the big lump of coal.

    Each worker kept a dresser sharp for trimming the coal blocks.

    Note

Less common meaning

  1. 12
    noundatedcountable
    A table or bench where meat and other food is prepared.

    The cook laid the chickens out on the dresser and began to cut them up.

    She scrubbed the dresser clean after preparing the fish.

    Similartable, bench, counter

    Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of dresser apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–2

From Middle English dressure, taken from an Old French word based on the verb dresser.

Meanings 3–12

From Middle English dresser, from the word 'dress' plus the ending '-er'.