Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A tall cabinet, closet, or small room built to hold clothes.
- n. Garments considered as a group, especially all the articles of clothing that belong to one person.
- n. The costumes belonging to a theater or theatrical troupe.
- n. The place in which theatrical costumes are kept.
- n. The department in charge of wearing apparel, jewelry, and accessories in a royal or noble household.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Originally, a room or large closet in which clothes were kept, and in which the making of clothes, repairing, etc., were carried on.
- n. A piece of furniture for the keeping of clothes, especially a large press closed by means of a door or doors, in which clothes can be hung up, and sometimes having shelves and drawers as well.
- n. The clothes belonging to one person at one time.
- n. A privy.
Wiktionary
- n. A cabinet in which clothes may be stored.
- n. The department (or people working in that department) that obtains and stores articles of clothing for use in theatrical or motion picture productions.
- n. A collection of clothing.
- v. intransitive To provide (a film, a customer, etc.) with clothing.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A room or apartment where clothes are kept, or wearing apparel is stored; a portable closet for hanging up clothes.
- n. Wearing apparel, in general; articles of dress or personal decoration.
- n. obsolete A privy.
WordNet 3.0
- n. collection of clothing belonging to one person
- n. collection of costumes belonging to a theatrical company
- n. a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes
Etymologies
- From Old Northern French warderobe, a northern variant of garderobe, from garder ‘to keep safe’ + robe. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English warderobe, from Old North French : warder, to guard; see wer-3 in Indo-European roots + robe, garment; see robe. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The term "wardrobe malfunction" entered the mainstream lexicon back in 2004 following a very unwelcome cameo appearance by Janet Jackson's right breast during the half-time show.”
“And so the question I would have is, even if you know your wardrobe is a disaster, right, how do you then say to yourself, well, I do have to go out and look for a job.”
“I don't want to shop just yet, so my wardrobe is a bit limited.”
“* SO* the wardrobe is an evolving, highly personal project designed for the tastes of one man.”
“Matching colors in your wardrobe is another trick.”
“I need to pack very little in terms of clothes, since most of my wardrobe is already in Madrid.”
“His own personal shoe wardrobe is full of matador slippers like the turquoise ones he's wearing on this day, more formal Beau Brummel-inspired lace-ups and, yes, saddle shoes.”
The Huffington Post: Manolo Blahnik: 'I'm Suspicious Of Platforms'
“In this case, the wardrobe is Ryhope Wood in the Kentish countryside in England, a wood which is potentially infinite on the inside and contains the heart of all myth and legend.”
MIND MELD: The Perfect SF/F/H Books to Give to People Who Don't Read SF/F/H
“The master bedroom boasts a spacious walk-in wardrobe and its own sauna with ocean view.”
“Posted December 24, 2009 at 12: 23 am | Permalink walk-in wardrobe systems in the UK”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wardrobe’.
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Containers
Stuff that holds other stuff.
cardboard box, jar, filing cabinet, safe deposit box, cupboard, wardrobe, jewel case, briefcase, locker, canopic jar, chest of drawers, paper sack and 208 more...
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UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
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Storage Facilities
bankshall, storehouse, granary, cornhouse, garner, grange, bodega, repository, sceuophylacium, skeuophylakion, bookhouse, reliquary and 100 more...
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TECH - furniture
The universe as IKEA sees it.
Furniture, haberdashery, household articles and a lot more. The bulk of the list (750 entries) are IKEA articles in the original English version IKEA use...active-response c..., add-on-unit for s..., adjustable slatte..., alarm clock, alkaline battery, anti-slip socks, anti-slip underlay, armchair, armrest, artificial flower, artificial garland, artificial plant ... and 830 more...
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Yeoman of the what?!
A richly peopled category of palace residents back in the 15th century, which I propose to elevate to yet more ludicrous heighths
mouth, armoury, buttery, sething place, hall, household, beds, bottles, cellar, chamber, ewery, close cart and 21 more...
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My GRE word list
polemic, ad hominem, fallacious, comity, pugnacious, laconic, veracious, prosaic, contrite, paucity, alacrity, gregarious and 176 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (W)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
wail, waistcoat, wales, wallflower, wand, wandering, wanderlust, waning, ward, wardrobe, warp, wassail and 97 more...
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furniture
commode, settee, swivel chair, sideboard, shabby chic, lounge, filing cabinet, display cabinet, chest of drawers, dresser, bureau, wardrobe and 6 more...
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watchful words
wary, ware, ward, steward, warder, award, reward, wardrobe, guard, regard, rearward, arcturus and 25 more...
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Floy's Words
woebegone, bendigedig, alas, twixt, oyster, chuckle, fudge, stealth, sweetheart, wallow, fervently, riverboat and 33 more...
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household
balustrade, porch swing, terrace, windowseat, foyer, breakfast nook, cellar, bay window, venetian blinds, canopy, hammock, hope chest and 69 more...
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Style words
Words relating to style, personal styling, stylishness
style, fashion, stylist, chic, substance, trendsetting, luxe, flawless, fashion-forward, fashionista, swanky, wardrobe and 4 more...
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TN5 Lesson 49
nurse, moon, up, sky, fall, light pole, crash, come up, wrote, make, mistakes, candid and 21 more...
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Vocabulary 3
desperate, trial, swerve, flower-pot, bracelet, pendant, drawer, plug, socket, cast, fluorescent tube, case and 55 more...
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New Oxford American - 2008 Word of th...
Won by Hypermiling
hypermiling, frugalista, moofer, topless meeting, toxic debt, CarrotMob, ecohacking, hockey mom, link bait, luchador, rewilding, staycation and 2 more...
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A Few of my Favourite Things
Names, places, things.
typewriter, book, library, chrysanthemum, daffodil, alhambra, amethyst, coffee spoons, velvet, velveteen, wardrobe, books and 5 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for wardrobe.

frindley According to this article about the Oxford Word of the Year 2008, wardrobe has become a verb, "as in: Ms. Mendes has a long-standing relationship with the house of Calvin Klein and has been wardrobed by Calvin Klein Collection."
Ugh, ugh, ugh. I'm all for creative language change and interesting new coinages. But really, what is wrong with dressed, which has been serving us so well in this context?
* contemplates adding new comment to when the revolution comes *
Nov 11, 2008
anydelirium '(She had, of course, left the door open, for she knew that it is a very silly thing to shut oneself in a wardrobe.)' -The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis Feb 20, 2008
chained_bear see also werderobe (thanks uselessness!) and warderobe (thanks mollusque!). Dec 1, 2007
whichbe a ward for robes? Nov 30, 2007