A Dresser Is Furniture in One Country and a Person in Another
In America a dresser holds clothes. In Britain it holds plates. And backstage, a dresser is the person who gets an actor into costume.
Dresser is a word that changes shape as it crosses the Atlantic. An American dresser is a chest of drawers in a bedroom; a British dresser is a kitchen sideboard with open shelves above it for plates. A third dresser is a person: the one who dresses an actor between scenes.
- A chest of drawers (American). *Socks are in the top dresser drawer.*
- A kitchen sideboard with shelves (British). *A Welsh dresser full of china.*
- Someone who dresses performers. *The dresser had ninety seconds for the change.*
- Someone who dresses a certain way. *A snappy dresser.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | dresser | An oak dresser. |
| Plural | dressers | Two dressers. |
| Verb | dress | Dress the window. |
| Noun | dressing | Salad dressing. |
| Related | sideboard | A sideboard in the dining room. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The keys are on the dresser by the mirror.American: a bedroom item.
- Her grandmother's dresser held the good plates.British: a kitchen item.
- He was always a sharp dresser.About a person's clothes, not furniture.
The wide reach of dress
- Dress a wound — clean and bandage it
- Dress a salad — add oil and vinegar
- Dress a shop window — arrange the display
- Dress stone — cut it to a smooth face
- Dressing-down — a scolding, oddly enough
From Old French *dresser*, to arrange or set straight, from a Latin verb meaning to make direct — the same family as *direct* and *address*. All those scattered senses share it: dressing is putting something into proper order.
What is a Welsh dresser?
A kitchen dresser with a cupboard below and open shelves above, traditionally used to display plates.
Dresser or chest of drawers?
In American English they are the same piece of furniture. In British English, chest of drawers is the bedroom item and dresser is the kitchen one.