china closet

American  

Or china cabinet

noun

1. a cabinet or cupboard for storing or exhibiting chinaware.

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Etymology

Origin of china closet

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

“To her, the world was not a china closet where you admire this and don’t touch that,” McBride wrote of Chona in the novel.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 5, 2023

Original hardwood floors, Victorian paint color scheme, ornate curved oak staircase and woodworking; sitting parlor, formal dining room with built-in china closet, eat-in kitchen, pocket doors.

From Washington Times • Jan. 7, 2016

As Winston Churchill once said about one of Haig's predecessors, John Foster Dulles: "He is the only case of a bull I know who carries his china closet with him."

From Time Magazine Archive

In his thefts from Homer, Keats, Joyce Kilmer, the marriage service and Shakespeare, Burglar Powys invariably knocks over the china closet or steps on the cat.

From Time Magazine Archive

Intoxicated by the uncontained torrent of relief, Aureliano Segundo broke the glass on the china closet and piece by piece, without hurrying, he took out the chinaware and shattered it on the floor.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez