What does "cabinet" mean?
A storage closet either separate from, or built into, a wall.
Cabinet
/ˈkæb.ɪ.nɪt/ noun
noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A storage closet either separate from, or built into, a wall.
- Grammar: cabinet is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: administration, advisors, advisory body, advisory council.
- Useful contrasts: canterbury, chest of drawers, consumer-grade.
- Usage evidence: Every member of the cabinet was present.
How to use "cabinet"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cabinet" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cabinet" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cabinet" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cabinet" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cabinet" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "administration" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cabinet", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A storage closet either separate from, or built into, a wall.
- 2 a piece of furniture resembling a cupboard with doors and shelves and drawers; for storage or display wordnet
- 3 A cupboard.
"‘[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’"
- 4 housing for electronic instruments, as radio or television wordnet
- 5 A museum display case.
"Here I obtained the rare and beautiful swallow-tail butterflies, Papilio aenomaus and P. liris; the males of which are quite unlike each other, and belong in fact to distinct sections of the genus, while the females are so much alike that they are undistinguishable on the wing, and to an uneducated eye equally so in the cabinet."
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 a storage compartment for clothes and valuables; usually it has a lock wordnet
- 7 A source of valuable things; a storehouse. figuratively
"It is a perfect cabinet of faithful, valuable, and extensive information; and it ought to have a place on the shelves of the most select and compact library, and be in the possession of every private family, as a work both of valuable reference."
- 8 persons appointed by a head of state to head executive departments of government and act as official advisers wordnet
- 9 The upright assembly that houses a coin-operated arcade game, a cab.
- 10 A size of photograph, specifically one measuring 3⅞" by 5½". historical
"Holmes took a note of it. “One other question,” said he. “Was the photograph a cabinet?”"
- 11 A group of advisors to a government or business entity.
- 12 In parliamentary and some other systems of government, the group of ministers responsible for creating government policy and for overseeing the departments comprising the executive branch. capitalized, often
"Lincoln had a great deal of trouble with his Cabinet because some of them got it into their heads that they, and not the President, were the policy-makers. James K. Polk had the same difficulty with his Cabinet. Franklin Roosevelt never had any difficulty with his Cabinet for the simple reason that he himself, in my opinion, spent too much time doing the work that should have been delegated to the Cabinet."
- 13 In parliamentary and some other systems of government, the group of ministers responsible for creating government policy and for overseeing the departments comprising the executive branch.; A cabinet-level agency in the executive branch; that is, an agency headed by a member of the governor's cabinet. capitalized, often
"The executive branch of Kentucky state government is structured on a program cabinet system consisting of 14 program cabinets, each headed by a secretary, who is appointed by the Governor. The program cabinets listed below and the agencies within each cabinet are designated in the statutes."
- 14 A small chamber or private room. archaic
"Philip passed some hours every day in his father's cabinet."
- 15 A collection of art or ethnographic objects. capitalized, often
- 16 Milkshake. dialectal
"One of Rhode Island's most famous beverages is the Awful Awful, an enormous 32-ounce, rich, creamy milk shake sold at the Newport Creamery stores, a soda fountain and casual restaurant chain. This ultra-thick cabinet is "awful big and awful good," thus the name."
- 17 A hut; a cottage; a small house. obsolete
"Hearken a while from thy green cabinet, / The rural song of careful Colinet."
- 18 An enclosure for mechanical or electrical equipment.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Every member of the cabinet was present."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cabinet"?
Common synonyms include: administration, advisors, advisory body, advisory council, adytum, armoire.
How do you use "cabinet" in a sentence?
Every member of the cabinet was present.
How do you pronounce "cabinet"?
Pronounced /ˈkæb.ɪ.nɪt/.
Etymology
From cabin + -et, influenced by French cabinet. In sense of “a government group”, compare salon, also named for a room used to gather.