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glove compartment

American  

noun

  • glove compartments
    plural
  1. a compartment in the dashboard of an automobile for storing small items.


glove compartment British  

noun

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

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of glove compartment

First recorded in 1935–40


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

No more scrolling through your phone to find that bar code, or scrambling through your glove compartment to find that parking pass.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 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

On the body camera video released from the July 23 traffic stop, tensions are heightened briefly when the driver tells police she has a gun locked in her car’s glove compartment.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023

Lillian opened the glove compartment and fumbled for her rosary beads.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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