‖ dormeuse
(dɔrˈmœːz)
Also 8 -ouse.
[Fr.; fem. of dormeur sleeper, applied to articles convenient for sleeping, f. dormir to sleep.]
† 1. A hood or nightcap. Obs.
| 1734 Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) I. 479, I have sent you..a dormeuse patron. 1753 ― Let. Mrs. Dewes in Life & Corr. 260 She had not yet been able to get her dormouse. |
2. A travelling-carriage adapted for sleeping in.
| 1808 M. Wilmot Jrnl. 16 Aug. (1934) iii. 363 We..set off in the Dormeuse 4 horses abreast & two before. 1825 Visc. S. de Redcliffe in S. L. Poole Life (1888) I. 357 The two dark green carriages—a Dormeuse and Britchka, which you saw..at Windsor. 1841 Lytton Nt. & Morn. (1851) 216 A dormeuse and four drove up to the inn door to change horses. |
3. A kind of couch or settee.
| 1865 Ouida Strathmore I. vi. 94 (Stanf.) He lay back in a dormeuse before the fire. |