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bottom drawer

American

[drawr] / drɔr /

noun

British.

any drawer used for a hope chest.

bottom drawer British

noun

US and Canadian equivalent: hope chest. a young woman's collection of clothes, linen, cutlery, etc, in anticipation of marriage

"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

Etymology

Origin of bottom drawer

First recorded in 1885–90

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.

"I don't want it to be a doorstop or in the bottom drawer, I want it to be on the mantelpiece."

From BBC • Nov. 19, 2025

The bottom drawer is for protein, which is good to put on the bottom because if anything drips it’s not going to cross-contaminate anything.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2023

I thought, “Yeah, you’ve got a script in the bottom drawer somewhere. Come on, you’re just not telling me what you want to do with the guy.”

From New York Times • Jul. 14, 2023

When Abigail Echo-Hawk first started her job as director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, she felt compelled to open the bottom drawer of a file cabinet in the corner of her office.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 23, 2018

If he pulled out the bottom drawer of the bureau, he could stand on it and see what was on the top.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023