▪ I. dresser1
(ˈdrɛsə(r))
Also 5 -ore, -ur(e, 5–6 -our(e, 7 -oir.
[a. OF. dresseur, dreceur, dre{cced}or (= mod.F. dressoir), f. dresser to dress: cf. med.L. dīrectōrium ‘abacus, ministerium, ubi reponuntur vasa ad convivia’ (Du Cange).]
1. a. A sideboard or table in a kitchen on which food is or was dressed; formerly also, a table in a dining-room or hall, from which dishes were served, or on which plate was displayed.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 20 Powder dowce þeron þou kast Stondande at dressore on þe last. 15.. in Blount Anc. Tenures 100 Upon Chrystemes day he..shall go to the Dressour, and shall serve his Lordys messe. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss II. ccxxvii. [ccxxiii.] 710 All the..plate of golde and syluer that was serued..in the palays at the dresser or elswhere. 1562 Leigh Armorie (1597) 123 b, What meaneth this drumme, said I. Quod he, this is to warn gentlemen of houshold to repaire to the dresser. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 166. 1608 S. Hieron A Defence iii. 32 A dressoir whereon to marshall the dishes. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. v, I..set up some Pieces of Boards, like a Dresser, to order my Victuals upon. |
b. A dressing- or toilet-table; a bureau. N. Amer.
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 605/1 Dresser, well made, of hardwood... Has a good 20 × 24 German beveled mirror and 3 large drawers. 1900 F. R. Stockton Afield & Afloat 263 ‘There,’ said he, opening a dresser drawer. 1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million 180 Dulcie took a last look at the pictures on the dresser..and skipped into bed. 1924 H. Croy R.F.D. No. 3 103 She bent over the ‘dresser’ to examine herself in the mirror. 1927 M. de la Roche Jalna xiv. 159 The tiny light of the candle, reflected in the mirror on the dresser, only faintly illuminated their faces. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 12 (Advt.), Triple Dresser... $280. 1970 S. Ellin Man from Nowhere iii. 13 Just tell me which dresser you want. |
2. A kind of kitchen sideboard surmounted by rows of shelves on which plates, dishes, and kitchen utensils are ranged.
| 1552 Huloet, Cupborde or dresser, abacus. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. iv. ii. (1852) 47 It should not be fasten'd unto the wall, dresser-fashion. 1859 Jephson Brittany x. 171 The dressers were covered with brilliant copper..vessels. 1882 Good Cheer 48 The old black dresser with its row of shining pewter at the top. |
† 3. ? A table-cloth. Obs. rare.
| 1571 Wills & Inv. N.C. 360, J dresser of dyaper js. |
4. Comb., as † dresser-window; † dresser-board, the board or table of a dresser; † dresser-knife, a knife for dressing meat for the table.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 580/41 Escaria, dresserbord. Ibid. 594/15 Machera, a dressurcnyf. 1593 Rites & Mon. Ch. Durh. (Surtees) 69 Having their meat served out of the Dresser-windowe of the great Kitchen. 1676 Hobbes Iliad (1677) 126 The meat..on clean dresser-boards..he sets. |
▪ II. ˈdresser2
[f. dress v. + -er1.]
One who or that which dresses.
1. a. One who dresses (in various special and technical senses: see dress v. 13, etc.).
| 1520 Whittinton Vulg. (1527) 16 b, Shermen, dressers, carders and spynners. 1526–34 Tindale Luke xiii. 7 The dresser of his vyneyarde. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 36 There is great abuse in the tanners, makers, curriers, and dressers of the same [leather]. 1819 Blackw. Mag. V. 125 The most elegant dresser of a fly in Scotland. 1865 J. T. F. Turner Slate Quarries 14 These sheets of slate are then passed to the ‘dressers’ or cutters. |
b. Type-founding. An operative who finishes type after casting.
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxi. 187 The Letter Dresser hath..his Letters Set up in Composing sticks. 1846 Dodd Brit. Manufacturers VI. 45 The long frame, filled with a single line of type, is removed to the dresser. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 699/2 The dresser..slips them into a long stick..and..cuts with a plane a groove in the bottom. |
2. a. One who attires another; esp. a tirewoman.
| a 1625 Fletcher Bloody Brother iv. iii, I'le be my self thy dresser. 1631 Massinger Emperor East ii. i, Command my dresser to adorn her with The robes that I gave command for. 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 18 Sept., I chose to dine with Mrs. Hill, who is one of the dressers, and Mrs. Masham's sister. 1884 Mem. P'cess Alice 8 A former dresser of the Queen's. |
b. Theatr. One who helps to dress an actor or actress (see quot. 1870).
| 1844 J. Cowell 30 Yrs. among Players ii. xii. 81/2 The domestic paraphernalia of the housekeeper and ladies'-dresser. 1851 W. K. Northall Before & Behind Curtain 117 Carpenters, scene-shifters, gas-men, dressers and super-numeraries, all partook of the general joy. 1870 O. Logan Before Footlights 77 All theatres of any importance have ‘dressers’. These help the players in change of dress, and fold up and put away their stage clothing after the piece is over. 1914 G. K. Chesterton Wisdom of Father Brown iv. 83 An aged servant or ‘dresser’, whose broken-down face and figure..contrasted queerly with the glittering interior of the great actress's dressing-room. 1970 K. Giles Death in Church v. 148 Her dresser had very pleasant memories of good Sergeant Honeybody. |
3. One who attires himself (or herself) elegantly, or in any way defined by the context.
| 1679 Crowne Ambit. Statesm. 11, He is no dresser, do but see how awkardly His damn'd crevat is tyed. 1778 Mrs. Thrale in Mad. D'Arblay Diary 23 Aug., I don't think Mrs. Burney a very good dresser. 1837 Lytton E. Maltrav. 49 The most perfect dresser that even France could exhibit. a 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor III. xxi. 264 Of all the dressers I ever saw, she is the worst. |
4. A surgeon's assistant in a hospital, etc., whose duty it is to dress wounds, etc.
| 1747 (July) Minutes of Grand Committee St. Thomas's Hospital (MS.), An application was made to this Committee to receive a young man as ‘Pupil or Dresser’ in the Hospital. 1758 (March) Ibid. Resolved and ordered that for the future no Surgeon, Pupil, or Dresser, be in the Wards after One o'Clock. 1861 Wynter Soc. Bees, George & Dragon 60 Dressers waiting for the surgeons to make their daily round of the wards. |
5. Mil. (See quot. 1823.)
| 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 11 Every dresser of a body in a given line, must in his own person be placed on that line, while he is directing such operation. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict., Dressers (Mil.) those men who take up direct or relative points, by which a corps is enabled to preserve a regular continuity of front. 1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 19 On the word March, the dressers front, and the rear rank steps back one pace, dressing by the right. |
6. Various appliances used in ‘dressing’ or preparing things.
a. A shoemaker's tool. b. A plumber's mallet to smooth down joinings in lead, etc. c. Tanning: see quot. 1853. d. Coal-mining: see quot. 1881. e. An apparatus for dressing corn; a winnowing machine. f. A tool or machine for cutting and dressing the furrows on a mill-stone. g. A machine for cutting and shaping geological specimens or minerals.
| 1600 Dekker Gent. Craft iv. (1862) 15 You skoomaker, have you all your tools..a good dresser, your four sorts of awls? 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 326/1 A Plummers Dresser..a Bat of Wood made with a handle, flat at the bottom, and rounded off at the top-side. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 192 Having roll'd open 2 Sheets, they beat them flat with their Dresser. 1853 C. Morfit Tanning, etc. 468 They [skins] are then worked with the round-knife upon the dresser..a cylindrical wooden bar fastened at a height of five feet three inches from the ground, by its two ends, to two buttresses projecting from the wall. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Dresser, a large pick, with which the largest lumps of coal are prepared for loading into the skip. S. Staffords. 1884 Bath Herald 27 Dec. 6/5 After being carried through certain apparatus called detachers, the wheat passes through centrifugal dressers. |
Hence ˈdressership, office of surgical dresser.
| 1869 Lancet 391/1 Certain of the dresserships..are appointed from the most diligent students. |