bureau
Americannoun
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bureaus,
plural
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bureaux
plural
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a chest of drawers, often with a mirror at the top.
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a division of a government department or an independent administrative unit.
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an office for collecting or distributing news or information, coordinating work, or performing specified services; agency.
a travel bureau; a news bureau.
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Chiefly British. a desk or writing table with drawers for papers.
noun
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a writing desk with pigeonholes, drawers, etc, against which the writing surface can be closed when not in use
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a chest of drawers
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an office or agency, esp one providing services for the public
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a government department
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a branch of a government department
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bureau
1710–20; < French: desk, office, originally a kind of cloth (used to cover desks, etc.), Anglo-French, Old French burel, equivalent to bur- (probably < *būra, variant of Late Latin burra wool, fluff ; cf. bourrée) + -el noun suffix
Explanation
When you put your socks away, you'll most likely put them in a bureau, or a chest of drawers used for storing clothes. Hopefully you've washed them. A dresser or a chest of drawers can also be called a bureau, a piece of furniture with drawers for storing things. Another meaning of bureau is "an office or government agency." These two definitions seem unrelated, but the original meaning of the French word bureau, "cloth covering for a desk" helps explain. Bureau gradually evolved to mean first just "desk" (and eventually "dresser"), and around 1720 it also started being used to mean a room full of desks, or an office.
Vocabulary lists containing bureau
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The letters were sent to addresses including secretary of state offices and related election offices, the bureau said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
They work full-time on the board for five-year terms administering the Public Works Department while assisted by several bureau heads and the director of public works.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Long lines formed outside immigration offices earlier this week as applicants sought to beat the fee hikes, with Tokyo's main immigration bureau reporting wait times of over seven hours.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
In a report in July, the PIJ claimed the bureau had received a complaint alleging US intelligence believed top Malawi military personnel may have helped to secretly funnel heavy weaponry to Sudan.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
On the bureau was a snapshot of Farmer.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
CNN and CBS News are expected to consolidate some of their operations, such as its overseas bureaus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
One long-shot strategy: turn the government bureaus that handle marriage paperwork into swoon-worthy destinations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
“The national credit bureaus will activate and deactivate a credit freeze for free upon request. You must contact each bureau separately to freeze your respective credit report.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Months later, he signed AB 238, a Harabedian bill that provided for 12 months of mortgage relief and banned late fees, foreclosures and negative reports to credit bureaus for homeowners who receive it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
The five bureaus were painted with wavy stripes of pale and paler lavender.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
John Lewis said the decision to close its in-store bureaux de change was due to falling demand and that it would move gift-wrapping services from a specialised area to its tills.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Guests were seen hugging, making calls, texting friends and loved ones, and their news bureaux.
From Barron's ● Apr. 26, 2026
In another measure intended to curb foreign-currency trading, Nigeria has closed thousands of bureaux de change.
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2024
"Incidentally, we have also studied enemy weapons quite well, which were taken as trophies and dismantled to the last screw at our military construction bureaux," Medvedev added.
From Reuters ● Feb. 25, 2023
Only I and my two officers had to journey some twenty-four miles back to Gitschin, where the bureaux were.
From The Franco-German War of 1870-71 by Count Helmuth
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
