dresser

dresser
dresser1
/dres"euhr/, n.
1. a person who dresses.
2. a person employed to dress actors, care for costumes, etc., at a theater, television studio, or the like.
3. Chiefly Brit. a surgeon's assistant.
4. a person who dresses in a particular manner, as specified: a fancy dresser; a careful and distinctive dresser.
5. any of several tools or devices used in dressing materials.
6. Metalworking.
a. a block, fitting into an anvil, on which pieces are forged.
b. a mallet for shaping sheet metal.
7. a tool for truing the surfaces of grinding wheels.
[1400-50; late ME: guide. See DRESS, -ER1]
dresser2
/dres"euhr/, n.
1. a dressing table or bureau.
2. a sideboard or set of shelves for dishes and cooking utensils.
3. Obs. a table or sideboard on which food is dressed for serving.
[1375-1425; ME dresso(u)r sideboard < AF; MF dresseur, OF dreceor(e), equiv. to dreci(er) to DRESS + -ore -ORY2 (F dressoir)]

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 a cupboard used for the display of fine tableware, such as silver, pewter, or earthenware. Dressers were widely used in England beginning in Tudor times, when they were no more than a side table occasionally fitted with a row of drawers. The front stood on three or five turned (shaped on a lathe) legs linked by stretchers. Horizontal planes such as the dresser's top and drawer fronts were decorated with matching molding. A low backboard, often with narrow shelves or drawers, was introduced about 1690, and, soon afterward, a decorative shelf beneath the main drawers was added. Shelves without backs were added later to display English delftware. Dressers of this type became a common feature of the middle-class kitchen up to the 19th century.

      In France the dresser was in use from the early years of the 16th century. Decorated with more elaborate carving than the English, it adopted architectural forms such as Gothic crockets (ornaments in the form of curved and bent foliage) and panels, reeded strapwork (design of narrow fillets or bands folded, crossed, or interlaced), cornices, and entablatures. Unlike the English dresser, it was basically a cupboard with two doors and a pot board below. A similar form was made in Germany, the lower portion enclosed by doors, the upper portion by recessed cupboards with a heavy cornice.

      In the United States, the term dresser can denote either a cupboard to hold dishes and cooking utensils or a chest of drawers or bureau topped by a mirror for use in the bedroom.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • dresser — DRESSER. v. a. Lever, tenir droit, faire tenir droit. Dresser la tête. Ce cheval dresse les oreilles. Ce cheval se dresse sur les pieds de derrière. Vous vous courbez, dressez vous. Dresser un mât. Dresser des quilles. f♛/b] Il signifie aussi… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • dresser — Dresser. v. a. Lever, tenir droit, faire tenir droit. Dresser la teste. ce cheval dresse les oreilles. ce cheval se dresse sur les pieds de derriere. vous vous courbez, dressez vous. dresser des quilles. Il signifie aussi, Eriger, élever. Dresser …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • dresser — Dresser, Tantost se prend pour radresser une chose courbe, Dirigere, tantost pour relever une chose cheute, Erigere, tantost pour former et instruire à quelque chose, comme, dresser un cheval, c est l apprendre à voltiger, estre juste sur ses… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Dresser — can refer to: Contents 1 Things 1.1 Furniture 2 Places 3 People Things Dresser (theatre), theatrical …   Wikipedia

  • Dresser — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Christopher Dresser (1834–1904), englischer Designer Denise Dresser (* 1963), mexikanische Politik Analystin, Schriftstellerin und Universitätsprofessorin Henry Eeles Dresser (1838–1915), englischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dresser — Dresser, WI U.S. village in Wisconsin Population (2000): 732 Housing Units (2000): 312 Land area (2000): 1.903109 sq. miles (4.929029 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.903109 sq. miles (4.929029… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Dresser, WI — U.S. village in Wisconsin Population (2000): 732 Housing Units (2000): 312 Land area (2000): 1.903109 sq. miles (4.929029 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.903109 sq. miles (4.929029 sq. km) FIPS …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • dresser — dress er, n. 1. One who dresses; one who put in order or makes ready for use; one who on clothes or ornaments. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mining) A kind of pick for shaping large coal. [1913 Webster] 3. An assistant in a hospital, whose office it is to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dresser — c.1300, person who prepares or furnishes, agent noun from DRESS (Cf. dress) (v.). Meaning table, sideboard, is late 14c., from O.Fr. dresseur, dreçoir table to prepare food, from dresser prepare, dress. Meaning chest, dressing bureau is from 1895 …   Etymology dictionary

  • dresser — dresser1 [dres′ər] n. 1. a person who dresses another; esp., one who helps actors and actresses put on their costumes 2. a person who dresses something, as store windows, leather, wounds, etc. 3. a person who dresses elegantly or in a certain way …   English World dictionary

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