# drawer

/ˈdɹɔɹ/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/drawer
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. furniture compartment

noun · CEFR A2

a box-shaped container that slides in and out of a desk or cupboard.

For teachers: a sliding, open-topped compartment within a piece of furniture, used for storage.

- He kept his passport in the top drawer of the wooden desk.
- The antique dresser featured a hidden drawer behind the central panel, designed to secure valuable documents from casual observers.

### 2. an artist

noun · CEFR B2

a person who draws pictures or sketches.

For teachers: an agent noun for one who produces drawings, sketches, or diagrams.

- She is a talented drawer who can capture a person's face in minutes.
- While he was a master of oil painting, he considered himself first and foremost a drawer, obsessed with the precision of graphite on paper.

### 3. financial issuer

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical · Formal

the person who writes a cheque or a bank document.

For teachers: the party that issues or signs a bill of exchange, cheque, or draft, instructing a second party to pay a sum.

- The bank refused to process the cheque because the drawer had not signed it.
- In commercial law, the drawer remains liable for the amount of the draft if the drawee fails to honour the payment upon presentation.

### 4. tap worker

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic

a person who pours drinks from a barrel or tap in a pub.

For teachers: a person employed to draw liquors from a cask or tap; a tapster.

- The drawer hurried to fill the empty mugs as the tavern grew crowded.
- In the historical novel, the drawer was depicted as a weary youth constantly running between the cellar barrels and the thirsty patrons upstairs.

### 5. mining worker

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Technical

a person who pushed heavy tubs of coal in old mines.

For teachers: a worker responsible for pushing or pulling tubs of coal or ore along underground tracks.

- Life was difficult for a drawer working in the narrow tunnels of the coal mine.
- Nineteenth-century mining records detail the gruelling labour of the drawer, who moved heavy loads through passages too low for ponies.

## Examples

- I keep my socks in the top drawer of the dresser.
- She searched through every drawer in the kitchen looking for the spare set of house keys.
- The antique desk features a hidden drawer concealed behind a false panel, designed to protect sensitive documents from prying eyes.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.