I. ˈkab(ə)nə̇t noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle French, diminutive of Old North French cabine gambling house, gambling booth
1. : a box for storing chiefly small articles usually closed by a hinged or sliding door, fitted with shelves or drawers, and suitably finished as an item of home, office, or laboratory furniture:
a. : an upright case or cupboardlike repository for utensils, materials, or documents conveniently accessible for use
a bathroom wall cabinet for medicines, bandages, and toilet articles
cards alphabetically arranged in rows of file cabinets
installation of a cabinet sink in the kitchen
b. : a similar repository for specimens of a biological, mineralogical, numismatic, antiquarian, or curio collection usually ordered for display ; also : a collection of specimens regarded independently of the repository
original owner of the cabinet that was the basis of a classical work in the field
c. : an enclosed framework for printers' cases or material
d. : an upright case housing a radio or television receiver : console
e. : a box having a tight-closing door and containing an ovenlike chamber in which a desired temperature, humidity, and circulation of air may be maintained for humidification, sterilization, or evaporation or for incubation of biological samples
f. : a small box containing both writing paper and envelopes
g. : a cupboardlike compartment usually of steel with a swinging door used to house an electric panelboard
2.
a.
[probably influenced by cabin ]
archaic : a small room providing seclusion (as for study or reading)
b. : a room for the safekeeping and exhibition of treasured art works or art objects ; specifically : a small exhibition room in a museum
c. : a small enclosed space or stall for a person performing some action
a shower cabinet installed in the bathroom
3. obsolete
a. : a bower in a garden
b. : a retreat or shelter
4.
a. archaic
(1) : the private room serving as council chamber of the chief councilors or ministers of a sovereign, in England originally of the members of the privy council
(2) : the consultations and actions of these councilors
b. often capitalized : a body of advisers of a sovereign or head of a state:
(1) : an executive or policy-making body consisting of a prime minister and the ministers in charge of the principal departments of government whose members take the leadership of all legislation and are by custom responsible for it to parliament
a constitutional monarchy with a cabinet system
the cabinet consists of about twenty members appointed nominally by the governor-general but really by the prime minister — F.A.Magruder
— compare ministry 7a
(2) : an advisory council of a president composed of the heads of the executive departments of the government whose members have been appointed by the president and who are responsible only to him
the cabinet of the president of the U.S.
at present the civil service commissioner, the director of the budget, and the chief United States delegate to the U.N. are also de facto cabinet members — Ernest Maass
(3) : a similar advisory council of a national chief executive (as a chancellor)
(4) : a similar advisory council of a governor of a state or a mayor in the United States
c. Britain : a meeting of a cabinet
d. Britain : government 8c (1)
5. : the advisory or executive council of an organization (as religious, fraternal, academic)
II. adjective
1. : suitable by reason of small size for a private compartment or by reason of attractiveness and antique character or perfection as a specimen for preservation and display in a cabinet
cabinet painting is a defunct art — Herbert Read
porcelain cabinet plates with figural centers
2. : belonging to a governmental cabinet
cabinet ministers
the new post carries cabinet rank
3.
a. : used or adapted for cabinetmaking
mahogany, walnut, and other fine cabinet woods
b. : done, made, or used by a cabinetmaker
III. ˈkab(ə)nə̇t, -bəˌnet transitive verb
( cabineted or cabinetted ; cabineted or cabinetted ; cabineting or cabinetting ; cabinets )
1. archaic : to put in a cabinet
2. archaic : to lock up : shut