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Webster 1913 Edition


Chiffonier

{

Chifˊfo-nier′

,
fem.

Chifˊfo

-

nière′

, }
Noun.
[F.
chiffonnier
, fem.
chiffonnière
, fr.
chiffon
rag, fr.
chiffe
a rag, flimsy cloth.]
1.
One who gathers rags and odds and ends; a ragpicker.
2.
A receptacle for rags or shreds.
3.
A movable and ornamental closet or piece of furniture with shelves or drawers.
G. Eliot.

Definition 2024


chiffonier

chiffonier

English

Alternative forms

Noun

chiffonier (plural chiffoniers)

  1. A tall, elegant chest of drawers, often with a mirror attached.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
    • 1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber 2007, p. 71:
      From the half-open drawers of this chiffonnier hung laces, ribands, stockings, ladies' underclothing and an abdominal brace, which gave the impression that the feminine finery had suffered venery.
  2. One who gathers rags and odds and ends; a ragpicker.
  3. A receptacle for rags or shreds.

Synonyms