bureau

[ byoo r-oh ]

/ ˈbyʊər oʊ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bureau ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural bu·reaus, bu·reaux [byoo r-ohz] /ˈbyʊər oʊz/.

a chest of drawers, often with a mirror at the top.

a division of a government department or an independent administrative unit.

an office for collecting or distributing news or information, coordinating work, or performing specified services; agency: a travel bureau; a news bureau.

Chiefly British. a desk or writing table with drawers for papers.

Nearby words

burden of proof, burdened, burdensome, burdizzo, burdock, bureau, bureau de change, bureau of customs, bureau of indian affairs, bureau of internal revenue, bureau of land management

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

Related forms

sub·bu·reau, noun, plural sub·bu·reaus, sub·bu·reaux.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bureau

The Bureau keeps publicly condemning Pyongyang for the Sony hack.
FBI Won’t Stop Blaming North Korea for Sony Hack -- Despite New Evidence|Shane Harris|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said that the bureau fully complies with U.S. policy as it relates to ransom payments.
A 26-Year-Old Woman Is ISIS’s Last American Hostage|Shane Harris|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They say the Department of Justice, the parent agency of the Bureau of Prisons, has reimbursed Treasury for those costs.
Megabanks Have The Federal Prison System Locked Up|Center for Public Integrity|October 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
JPMorgan, Treasury and the Bureau of Prisons declined to provide a current fee schedule for the cards.
Megabanks Have The Federal Prison System Locked Up|Center for Public Integrity|October 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

A copy of AA Today, an Alcoholics Anonymous publication, rested atop the bureau.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life|Paul Hemphill|September 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This work is being well administered by the Veterans' Bureau.
State of the Union Addresses of Calvin Coolidge|Calvin Coolidge
Now, you see, I'm not familiar with some of the things that were discussed with the other bureau commanders.
Warren Commission (7 of 26): Hearings Vol. VII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
She found three penny stamps in the bureau at which she wrote and this served to remind her of her penniless condition.
The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
I'll telephone Washington and have some men with apparatus sent right down from the Bureau of Standards.
The Great Drought|Sterner St. Paul Meek
He put the lamp on the bureau, and looked vacantly about him.
Sandy|Alice Hegan Rice

British Dictionary definitions for bureau

bureau

/ (ˈbjʊərəʊ) /

noun plural -reaus or -reaux (-rəʊz)

mainly British a writing desk with pigeonholes, drawers, etc, against which the writing surface can be closed when not in use

US a chest of drawers

an office or agency, esp one providing services for the public

a government department
a branch of a government department

Word Origin for bureau

C17: from French: desk, office, originally: type of cloth used for covering desks and tables, from Old French burel, from Late Latin burra shaggy cloth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012