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cabinet

 - 3 dictionary results

cab⋅i⋅net

[kab-uh-nit]
–noun
1. a piece of furniture with shelves, drawers, etc., for holding or displaying items: a curio cabinet; a file cabinet.
2. a wall cupboard used for storage, as of kitchen utensils or toilet articles: a kitchen cabinet; a medicine cabinet.
3. a piece of furniture containing a radio or television set, usually standing on the floor and often having a record player or a place for phonograph records.
4. (often initial capital letter) a council advising a president, sovereign, etc., esp. the group of ministers or executives responsible for the government of a nation.
5. (often initial capital letter) (in the U.S.) an advisory body to the president, consisting of the heads of the 13 executive departments of the federal government.
6. a small case with compartments for valuables or other small objects.
7. a small chamber or booth for special use, esp. a shower stall.
8. a private room.
9. a room set aside for the exhibition of small works of art or objets d'art.
10. Also called cabinet wine. a dry white wine produced in Germany from fully matured grapes without the addition of extra sugar.
11. New England (chiefly Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts). a milk shake made with ice cream.
12. Archaic. a small room.
13. Obsolete. a small cabin.
–adjective
14. pertaining to a political cabinet: a cabinet meeting.
15. private; confidential; secret.
16. pertaining to a private room.
17. of suitable value, beauty, or size for a private room, small display case, etc.: a cabinet edition of Milton.
18. of, pertaining to, or used by a cabinetmaker or in cabinetmaking.
19. Drafting. designating a method of projection (cabinet projection) in which a three-dimensional object is represented by a drawing (cabinet drawing) having all vertical and horizontal lines drawn to exact scale, with oblique lines reduced to about half scale so as to offset the appearance of distortion. Compare axonometric, isometric (def. 5), oblique (def. 13).


Origin:
1540–50; < MF, equiv. to cabine hut, room on a ship (of uncert. orig., but frequently alleged to be alter. of cabane cabin ) + -et -et


4. advisers, ministry, counselors.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cabinet
cab·i·net   (kāb'ə-nĭt)   
n.  
  1. An upright, cupboardlike repository with shelves, drawers, or compartments for the safekeeping or display of objects.

  2. Computer Science The box that houses the main components of a computer, such as the central processing unit, disk drives, and expansion slots.

  3. often Cabinet A body of persons appointed by a head of state or a prime minister to head the executive departments of the government and to act as official advisers.

  4. Archaic A small or private room set aside for a specific activity.

  5. Rhode Island & Southeastern Massachusetts See milk shake. See Regional Note at milk shake.

adj.  
  1. Suitable for storage or display in a cabinet, as because of size or decorative quality.

  2. Of, relating to, or being a member of a governmental cabinet: cabinet matters; a cabinet minister.

  3. Used in the making of cabinets: teak and other heavy cabinet wood.


[French, partly from diminutive of Old North French cabine, gambling-room (perhaps alteration of Old French cabane, small house; see cabin) and partly from Italian gabinetto, closet, chest of drawers; akin to Old North French cabine. N., sense 5, possibly from the square wooden container in which the mixer was encased.]
cab'i·net·ful n.
milk shake  
n.  
  1. A beverage made of milk, flavoring, and ice cream, shaken or whipped until foamy. Also called shake; also called regionally cabinet, frappe, velvet.

  2. New England A beverage made of milk and flavored syrup, whipped until foamy.

To most Americans, a milk shake, that thick, sweet accompaniment to a hamburger and fries, naturally includes ice cream. But speakers in parts of New England make finer distinctions in their ice cream terminology. To a person living in Rhode Island or the adjoining part of Massachusetts, a milk shake consists of milk shaken up with flavored syrup and nothing more; if ice cream is included, the drink is called a cabinet, possibly, says food writer John F. Mariani in The Dictionary of American Food and Drink, named after the square wooden cabinet in which the mixer was encased. Farther north in New England, the same drink is called a velvet or a frappe (from French frapper, "to ice").
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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