noun
Etymology: short for withdrawing room
1.
a. archaic : a room to which one may retire for privacy or rest : closet ; especially : one adjacent to public apartments
b. obsolete : a room or apartment forming a private part of the suite of a person (as a king) living in state and being often the setting of various informal activities or gatherings
c. : a more or less formal reception room (as in a home or hotel) ; especially : the room to which ladies withdraw from the dining room — compare parlor , sitting room
d. : a private room on a railroad passenger car with three berths and an enclosed toilet
2. : a formal or ceremonial reception ; especially : one that is an official function of a royal court
made her curtsy at the queen's last drawing room
3.
a. : persons gathered in a drawing room
disturbed the drawing room with his radical talk
b. drawing rooms plural : people of substance and position accustomed to formal living : polite society
the report of her elopement shocked the drawing rooms