glove compartment

American  

noun

• glove compartments
  plural

1. a compartment in the dashboard of an automobile for storing small items.

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glove compartment British  

noun

1. a small compartment in a car dashboard for the storage of miscellaneous articles

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• glove compartments
  plural

Etymology

Origin of glove compartment

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

glove compartment

But the graying signal caller still had something left in the glove compartment, and if you think I typed that while speaking in a stentorian John Facenda voice, I absolutely did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026

As I opened the glove compartment, our hands slightly brushed each other’s, and there was a moment of excitement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025

The body camera footage shows an exchange that became more tense when Ms. Heard let the officers know that she had a gun locked in her glove compartment.

From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2023

There was no signal, the satellite phone was in the glove compartment, more fool she, and no one would come anyway.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2022

Before she even left the compound, Yolanda put the list away in the glove compartment.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez