a piece of furniture containing shelves, cupboards, or drawers for storage or display the outer case of a television, radio, etc - (often capital)
the executive and policy-making body of a country, consisting of all government ministers or just the senior ministers - (sometimes capital)
an advisory council to a president, sovereign, governor, etc (as modifier): a cabinet reshuffle, a cabinet minister a standard size of paper, 6 × 4 inches (15 × 10 cm) or 6 × 4 inches (16.5 × 10.5 cm), for mounted photographs (as modifier): a cabinet photograph a private room
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
cab•i•net /ˈkæbənɪt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
adj. [before a noun]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Furniturea piece of furniture with shelves, etc., for holding or displaying items:a kitchen cabinet for pots and pans.
- Furniturethe case enclosing a radio, television, etc.
- Government[often: Cabinet* the + ~] a group of persons who officially advises a sovereign or a chief executive.
adj. [before a noun]
- Governmentof or relating to a political cabinet: a cabinet meeting.
cab•i•net
(kab′ə nit),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
- Furniturea piece of furniture with shelves, drawers, etc., for holding or displaying items:a curio cabinet; a file cabinet.
- Furniturea wall cupboard used for storage, as of kitchen utensils or toilet articles:a kitchen cabinet; a medicine cabinet.
- Furniturea 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.
- Government(often cap.) a council advising a president, sovereign, etc., esp. the group of ministers or executives responsible for the government of a nation.
- Government(often cap.) (in the U.S.) an advisory body to the president, consisting of the heads of the 13 executive departments of the federal government.
- Furniturea small case with compartments for valuables or other small objects.
- a small chamber or booth for special use, esp. a shower stall.
- a private room.
- a room set aside for the exhibition of small works of art or objets d'art.
- WineAlso called cabinet wine. a dry white wine produced in Germany from fully matured grapes without the addition of extra sugar.
- Dialect Terms[New Eng.](chiefly Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts). a milk shake made with ice cream.
- [Archaic.]a small room.
- [Obs.]a small cabin.
adj.
- Governmentpertaining to a political cabinet:a cabinet meeting.
- private;
confidential;
secret. - pertaining to a private room.
- of suitable value, beauty, or size for a private room, small display case, etc.:a cabinet edition of Milton.
- Furnitureof, pertaining to, or used by a cabinetmaker or in cabinetmaking.
- [Drafting.]designating a method of projection (cab′inet projec′tion) in which a three-dimensional object is represented by a drawing (cab′inet draw′ing) 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. Cf. axonometric, isometric (def. 5), oblique (def. 13). See illus. under isometric.
- Middle French, equivalent. to cabine hut, room on a ship (of uncertain origin, originally, but frequently alleged to be alteration of cabane cabin) + -et -et
- 1540–50
- 4.See corresponding entry in Unabridged advisers, ministry, counselors.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'cabinet officer' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):