VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

bottom drawer

noun·AdvancedBritishold-fashioned

Last updated

UK/ˌbɒtəm ˈdrɔː/
US/ˌbɑːtəm ˈdrɔːr/

Meanings

  1. nounsingularBritishold-fashioned

    A collection of household items, such as linen and dishes, that a young woman saved up in preparation for marriage.

    Grammar: Usually singular and preceded by the or her: she had a bottom drawer.

    Patterns

    • fill her bottom drawer
    • something for the bottom drawer

    My grandmother kept tablecloths in her bottom drawer for years before her wedding.

    She was slowly filling her bottom drawer with towels and plates.

    In those days every girl had a bottom drawer.

  2. nouncountable

    The lowest drawer in a chest of drawers or similar piece of furniture.

    Grammar: A literal use, with an ordinary plural: the bottom drawers stick.

    Patterns

    • in the bottom drawer
    • at the bottom drawer

    The spare keys are in the bottom drawer of the dresser.

    The bottom drawer is stuck again.

Word forms

pluralbottom drawers

Common combinations

fill a bottom drawer
She started to fill a bottom drawer at eighteen.
her bottom drawer
Her bottom drawer was full of linens.
keep in the bottom drawer
Keep the receipts in the bottom drawer.
bottom drawer of a dresser
The bottom drawer of the dresser was empty.

Synonyms and how they differ

trousseau
A trousseau is the bride's clothes and linens, and it sounds more formal and French, while bottom drawer is a plainer British phrase.
hope chest
Hope chest is the American equivalent for the box in which such items were kept.
dowry
A dowry was money or goods the bride's family gave the husband, whereas a bottom drawer was what she collected herself.

Word family

drawer noun
a sliding box in a piece of furniture
bottom noun
the lowest part
top drawer noun
the highest social class, as in a top-drawer family

Commonly confused: bottom drawer or drawer?

bottom drawer vs drawer

Drawer, the sliding box, is pronounced like draw plus er and has one syllable, while a drawer who draws is two syllables; the furniture is the one in this phrase.

Practice

In the old British custom, a young woman saved items for her ___ before she married.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “bottom drawer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words