Meaning & use
reupholster
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Meanings
verbtransitive
to put new cloth, leather, or padding on a piece of furniture that already has a cover.
Grammar: Takes an object: reupholster the chair.
Patterns
- reupholster something
- reupholster something in something
- have something reupholstered
We reupholstered the old armchair instead of buying a new one.
She had the dining chairs reupholstered in dark green velvet.
The garage can reupholster your car seats in a day.
verbtransitive
to replace the soft covering on a seat or cushion, especially in a vehicle or on a stool.
Grammar: Same pattern as the main sense; the object is often a seat or cushion.
Patterns
- reupholster a seat
- reupholster a cushion
He reupholstered the motorcycle seat himself with a kit.
The café reupholstered its bench cushions last spring.
Word forms
| third person singular | reupholsters |
|---|---|
| past tense | reupholstered |
| past participle | reupholstered |
| -ing form | reupholstering |
Common combinations
- reupholster a sofa
- They plan to reupholster the sofa before the guests arrive.
- reupholster in leather
- We reupholstered the chairs in leather to match the desk.
- have something reupholstered
- I had my grandmother's ottoman reupholstered.
- professionally reupholstered
- The seats look professionally reupholstered.
- reupholster a car seat
- It costs less to reupholster a car seat than to replace it.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- upholster verb
- To put a soft cover and padding on furniture, especially for the first time.
- upholstery noun
- The cloth, leather, or padding used to cover furniture.
- upholsterer noun
- A person whose job is covering furniture with fabric or leather.
Commonly confused: reupholster or upholster?
reupholster vs upholster
Upholster can mean covering furniture for the first time; reupholster means doing it again to replace an old cover.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
The verb takes a direct object (the sofa) and uses 'in' for the new material: reupholster something in something. Option 2 has unnatural word order, option 3 adds 'to' before the object, and option 4 uses 'to' instead of 'in' for the material.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reupholster”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.