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• davenport
  davenport

  noun

  a large sofa, often one convertible into a bed.
• Davenport
  Davenport

  noun

  John, 1597–1670, Puritan clergyman: one of the founders of New Haven.

davenport

¹ American  

[dav-uhn-pawrt, -pohrt] / ˈdæv ənˌpɔrt, -ˌpoʊrt /

noun

1. a large sofa, often one convertible into a bed.

2. Chiefly British. a small writing desk.

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Davenport ² American  

[dav-uhn-pawrt, -pohrt] / ˈdæv ənˌpɔrt, -ˌpoʊrt /

noun

1. John, 1597–1670, Puritan clergyman: one of the founders of New Haven.

2. a city in E Iowa, on the Mississippi River.

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davenport British  

/ ˈdævənˌpɔːt /

noun

1. a tall narrow desk with a slanted writing surface and drawers at the side

2. a large sofa, esp one convertible into a bed

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Etymology

Origin of davenport

First recorded in 1850–55; the desk is said to be named after a Captain Davenport who first commissioned it

Explanation

A davenport is a piece of furniture that you might lounge on in your living room — it's another name for an upholstered couch or sofa. Exactly how people describe a davenport depends on where they're from. In some parts of the U.S., a davenport is an especially fancy sofa, while in others it's one that can be converted into a bed. The name comes from a 19th century Massachusetts furniture maker, A.H. Davenport and Company. The family name Davenport goes back to a town in Cheshire, England. Earlier, the word referred to a small desk used for writing letters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

davenport Davenport

She and her brothers, she wrote, had grown up in Onalaska, Wis., and she had loved that davenport.

From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2020

One day in January, near the turnstile at the exit of the 125th Street subway station, something caught my eye: a sepia-toned photograph that showed what looked like three siblings sitting on a davenport.

From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2020

We’d sit on the davenport, helping Grandmom make dinner.

From MSNBC ● Oct. 9, 2015

Ed couldn't get around very well in those days, so he spent most of his time lying on the davenport while his mother read the letters to him.

From Time Magazine Archive

Marie-Laure imagines him hunched on the davenport, mumbling children’s rhymes and watching ghosts shuttle through the walls.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Ben Jones, the actor best known for portraying trusty mechanic Cooter Davenport on “The Dukes of Hazzard” before serving two terms in Congress as a representative from Georgia, has died.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport seeks treble damages and a court order to bar the alleged anticompetitive practices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Nobody has much of a sense of what tokens even mean and how you translate that into costs,” Tom Davenport, information-technology and management professor at Babson College, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

Wikstrom plays May Davenport, one of the residents at the retirement home.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Others did see Julia again, although by then no one, not even her own family back in Davenport, Iowa, could have been expected to recognize her.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson