drawer

American  

[drawr, draw-er] / drɔr, ˈdrɔ ər /

noun

1. a sliding, lidless, horizontal compartment, as in a piece of furniture, that may be drawn out in order to gain access to it.

2. (used with a plural verb) drawers, an undergarment, with legs, that covers the lower part of the body.

3. a person or thing that draws.

4. Finance. a person who draws an order, draft, or bill of exchange.

5. Metalworking. a person who operates a drawbench.

6. a tapster.

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drawer British  

/ ˈdrɔːə /

noun

1. a person or thing that draws, esp a draughtsman

2. a person who draws a cheque See draw

3. a person who draws up a commercial paper

4. archaic a person who draws beer, etc, in a bar

5. a boxlike container in a chest, table, etc, made for sliding in and out

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drawer Idioms  

1. see top drawer.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• redrawer
  noun
• predrawer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of drawer

1300–50, 1580–90 drawer for def. 1, 1560–70 drawer for def. 2; Middle English; see draw, -er ¹

Explanation

A drawer is a sliding compartment that fits into a dresser and is used for storage. You might keep socks in one drawer and t-shirts in another. Dressers have drawers, and so do other pieces of furniture, including desks, bureaus, and kitchen cabinets. Your kitchen drawers might be full of silverware, while the drawers in your office are a jumble of pens, paper clips, and Post-It notes. Drawer comes from the verb draw, from its "pull" meaning — the original idea of the word was that it's a container that's "drawn" out of a cabinet.

Example Sentences

Straight away we’re suspicious that Carney and co-screenwriter Peter McDonald stashed this story in a drawer ages ago and didn’t bother to dust it off.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

The child, who was not charged with any wrongdoing, told police he obtained the firearm by mounting a drawer to reach his mother's handbag on top of a dresser, where the handgun was kept.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

My ski pass stays in my desk drawer, and each weekday as I sign off from work, I tap my phone to the pass to disable all the most tempting stuff from my device.

From Slate • Apr. 26, 2026

More than 30 years later, Nesbitt rediscovered it in a drawer and brought it to Virginia Tech for further study.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

Tansy told her not to use her sleeve and to look in teacher’s desk drawer for a spare handkerchief.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck