dresser2 (dreser)

[ ult. OF. drecier, drescer, etc., dre , prepare: see dre , v.] 1. A table, sideboard, or bench on which meat and other things are dre ed or prepared for use. Summoning your tenants at my dre er, Which is, indeed, my drum. Mas singer, The Guardian, iii. 3. A maple dre er in her hall she had, On which full many a slender meal she made. Dryden, Cock and Fox, 1. 17. It was formerly customary for the cook, when dinner was ready, to knock on the dre er with his knife, by way of summoning the servants to carry it into the hall. Gifford, Note to Mas singer's Unnatural Combat, iii. 1. 2. A cupboard or set of shelves for dishes and cooking utensils. The pewter plates on the dre er Caught and reflected the flame, as shields of armies the Long fellow, Evangeline, 1. 2. sunshine.