chesterfield

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There was no centre table and no cabinet, but a deep, comfortable sofa, which Ellen called a chesterfield, and a "cosy corner," and a Sheraton bureau, and a Sheraton china-cupboard with glass doors.

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A single- or double-breasted overcoat, usually with concealed buttons and a velvet collar.
  2. noun Chiefly Northern California & Canada A sofa.
  3. Regional Note
    Chesterfield, a term for a sofa, especially a large one with upholstered arms, was probably brought down from Canada, where it is common. In the United States, it was largely limited to the trade region of San Francisco in northern California. According to Craig M. Carver in American Regional Dialects, the word probably comes from the name of a 19th-century earl of Chesterfield and originally referred "specifically to a couch with upright armrests at either end.” It appears to have come into use in Canada around 1903 and in northern California at about the same time.

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Examples (50)

  • He was in the adjoining sitting room, slumped in a corner of the chesterfield, a glass of whisky cradled in his hands. —  FUGITIVEBRIDE
  • There was a divan under the windows and a comfortable chesterfield, flanked by two chintz-covered easy chairs by the fire. —  Flowers for the Judge - Margery Allingham - Campion 07 - 1937
  • Flinging it over the leather chesterfield, he tossed his jacket after it. —  TheMillionaire’sPregnantWife
  • Where I come from the term 'chesterfield' is interchangeable with the word —  Apartment Therapy Main
  • Loc: chesterfield, derbyshire What a very nice thing for you to do Ravenwood, what a lovely post.
 

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Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. After a 19th-century earl of Chesterfield.
 

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/ˈtʃɛstərfild/
by American Heritage

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