English Explanatory Dictionary

desk

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.
  2. A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (especially in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for the clerical profession.
  3. A department tasked with a particular topic or focus in certain types of businesses, such as newspapers and financial trading firms.
  4. Ellipsis of mixing desk.
  5. A station for a string player in an orchestra, consisting of a chair and a music stand, or a row of such stations.
verb
  1. To shut up, as in a desk; to treasure.
  2. To equip with a desk or desks.
  3. To reject (an article submitted to a newspaper or academic journal etc.) on initial receipt, without reviewing it further.

Pronunciation

/dɛsk/ En-us-desk.ogg

Word forms

desk desks desking desked

Etymology

From Middle English deske, desque, from Medieval Latin desca, modified from Old Italian desco, from Latin discus. Doublet of dais, disc, discus, dish, disk, and diskos. See also German Tisch, "table".

Derived words

al desko Carlton House desk cash desk cashier's desk checkout desk circulation desk city desk concierge desk copy desk deskband desk blotter deskbook deskbound desk caddy desk calendar desk chair desk check desk dictionary desk drawer desk drop deskercise desk fan deskfast deskful deskie desk job desk jockey desk killer desklamp desk lamp desklet desklike deskman deskmate desk murderer desk organiser desk organizer desk pad deskphone desk pilot desk potato desk rage desk rejection deskscape desk sergeant deskside deskspace desk tidy desktop deskward desk work deskwork deskworker double desk fly a desk front-desk front desk Governor Winthrop desk headdesk help desk
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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