# furniture

Pronunciation: US say "FUR-ni-chur" /ˈfɝnɪt͡ʃɚ/; UK say "FUR-ni-chuh" /ˈfɜːnɪtʃə/

## Noun

1. Large movable items in a room that improve it, either functionally or decoratively, such as chairs, tables, and beds.
   - Simple: Large movable objects like chairs, tables, and beds that you use in a room.
   - _The apartment came partly equipped with furniture from the previous tenant._
   - _Designers arranged the office furniture to encourage conversation._
2. The fittings, such as handles and hinges, on a door, coffin, or other wooden item.
   - Simple: The handles, hinges, and other metal parts fixed to a door or coffin.
   - _Restorers sourced period-correct furniture for the chapel's oak doors._
   - _The undertaker selected silver-plated furniture for the casket._
3. Any material on a page other than the body text and pictures: headlines, datelines, dinkuses, lines, and symbols.
   - Simple: Everything on a printed page that is not the main text or pictures, like headlines and lines.
   - _Sub-editors finalize the furniture before sending the page to print._
   - _A cluttered layout often has too much furniture competing with the story._
4. The harness, trappings, and other equipment fitted to a horse, hawk, or other animal.
   - Simple: The harness, straps, and gear put on a horse, hawk, or other animal.
   - _A falconer keeps the hawk's furniture (jesses and bells) clean and supple._
   - _The cavalry inspected every mount's furniture before the parade._
5. The stock and forearm of a weapon: the structural parts that the shooter grips and shoulders.
   - Simple: The wooden or plastic parts of a gun that you hold and that hold the barrel.
   - _The gunsmith refinished the shotgun's furniture to a deep amber gloss._
   - _Wartime production swapped polished wood furniture for plain, hard-wearing stocks._
6. Impressive-looking books acquired mainly to fill out the collection of a private library rather than to be read.
   - Simple: Good-looking books bought just to fill shelves and make a private library look grand.
   - _The decorator ordered leather-bound furniture to lend the study an air of learning._
   - _Beneath the handsome spines, much of the shelf was mere furniture._
7. In cricket, a slang word for the stumps, the upright targets the bowler aims to hit. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In cricket, a playful word for the wooden stumps that the batter defends.
   - _A perfectly pitched delivery scattered the furniture and ended his innings._
   - _The crowd roared as the spinner disturbed the furniture at the far end._
8. A type of mixture stop found on a pipe organ, sounding several high-pitched ranks together.
   - Simple: A kind of organ stop that blends several high pipes to brighten the sound.
   - _She added the furniture for the closing voluntary, crowning the chorus with sparkle._
   - _Without the furniture, the full organ sounded weighty but dull._
9. In letterpress printing, the wooden or metal blocks set around pages of type to create the margins and fill the space between the pages and the chase.
   - Simple: In old printing, the wood or metal pieces packed around type to set the margins.
   - _The printer fitted lengths of furniture along each edge before tightening the quoins._
   - _Mismatched furniture left an uneven margin down the outer column._

## Noun

10. Draped coverings and hangings, such as bedsheets, tablecloths, and tapestries. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Cloth coverings and hangings such as bedsheets, tablecloths, and tapestries.
   - _She inherited her mother's linen furniture, including fine tablecloths and embroidered sheets._
   - _The great bed's furniture of crimson velvet was the household's chief treasure._
11. Equipment, apparatus, tools, or instruments used for carrying out work. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Tools, equipment, or instruments used for doing a job.
   - _The smith kept the furniture of his trade arranged neatly along the forge wall._
   - _Each apprentice was issued the furniture proper to his craft before the term began._
12. An accompanying feature that enhances something, or enhancing features collectively; embellishment, decoration, or trimming. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Extra decorations added to make something look nicer.
13. The clothing that makes up a person's outfit. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The clothes a person wears as an outfit.
14. Weapons, armor, and other equipment used in war. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Weapons and armor used for fighting in war.
   - _The captain inspected each man's furniture, testing helm, blade, and breastplate in turn._
   - _Carts groaned under the furniture of the besieging army as it advanced on the walls._
15. A stock or supply of stores and provisions. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A store or supply of food and goods kept ready.
   - _The steward laid in furniture against the coming siege: grain, salted meat, and casks of ale._
   - _Their furniture ran low long before the relief column reached the fort._
16. The things contained in something or provided to stock it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The things that fill or stock a place.
17. The condiments and dressings of a salad. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The oil, vinegar, and seasonings added to a salad.
   - _The recipe insists the furniture be added only at the table, lest the leaves wilt._
   - _A bowl of crisp lettuce waited beside its furniture of mustard, oil, and salt._
18. The action of furnishing or supplying something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The act of supplying or giving someone what they need.
19. The state of being well equipped or prepared, or of having a cultivated mind. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The state of being ready, equipped, or well taught.

## Origin

From Middle French fourniture (“a supply, or the act of furnishing”), from the verb fournir (“to furnish”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/furniture (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).