desk

UK/dɛsk/

desk noun: a table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath. Also the ellipsis of mixing desk.

Image: CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

desk (plural desks)

A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.
- She organized her notes neatly on her desk before starting the project.
- The desk was cluttered with papers and books, making it hard to concentrate.
A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (especially in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for the clerical profession.
A department tasked with a particular topic or focus in certain types of businesses, such as newspapers and financial trading firms.
- the city desk, the sports desk
- the options desk, the equities desk
A station for a string player in an orchestra, consisting of a chair and a music stand, or a row of such stations.
- The first four desks of cellos play separate parts, making a lush, Impressionist harmony.
- […]at best a competent viola player occupies a first desk, so that he may play the occasional solos for that instrument; but I have even seen this function performed by the leaderof the first violins.2003, Sheila M. Nelson, The Violin and Viola: History, Structure, Techniques, page 158

Verb

desk (third-person singular simple present desks, present participle desking, simple past and past participle desked)

(transitive) To shut up, as in a desk; to treasure.
(transitive) To equip with a desk or desks.
- But also that the said Chapell be desked, and the windowes of our said Chapell be glased, with Stores, Ymagies, Armes, Bagies ami Cognossaunts, as is by us redily divised, and in picture delivered to the Priour of Saunt Bartilmews besid Smythfel, maistre of the works of our said Chapell;1775, Henry VII (King of England), The will of king Henry vii [ed. by T. Astle.]., page 6
- The teaching accommodation is to be as follows ;— Senior Mixed Department—Five rooms of equal area, four of which are each to be desked for forty scholars and one to be desked for thirty-two scholars1914, The Builder - Volume 106, page 528
(transitive) To reject (an article submitted to a newspaper or academic journal etc.) on initial receipt, without reviewing it further.

Also used as

desk is also the ellipsis of mixing desk.

desk meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

desk in Hindi

table for writing and reading: मेज़ mez

desk in Marathi

डेस्क

desk in Urdu

table for writing and reading: میز تَحْرِیر mez tahrīr, میز mez

desk in Bengali

table for writing and reading: ডেস্ক ḍesk, মেজ mej

More languagesFewer languages

desk in Malayalam: ഡെസ്ക്
desk in Punjabi: ਡੈਸਕ
desk in Gujarati: ડેસ્ક
desk in Odia: ଡେସ୍କ
desk in Nepali: डेस्क
desk in Arabic: مَكْتَب maktab, مِنْضَدَة minḍada
desk in Malay: meja tulis
desk in Thai: โต๊ะ dtó, โต๊ะทำงาน dtó tam-ngaan
desk in Vietnamese: bàn

Examples of desk in a sentence

He sat at his desk for hours, trying to finish the report.
First desk: Lalance, chevalier de, composer; Meslay, Masson de, President of the exchequer, amateur; Blasius, Pierre, the elder, professor of music; Second desk:[…]2006, Gabriel Banat, The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow, page 270:
Lori performed for years with the American Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski as a first-desk violinist. (She says that Stokowski was not a Russian but an Englishman named Stokes.2014, Reuben Hersh, Peter Lax, Mathematician, page 46:
Each row of desked benches was stepped up a step from the other until the top row of desked benches seemed to hit its high ceiling.2001, Bonnie M Gulan, A Collection of Nodding Off Stories, page 64:

All 40 example sentences with desk

Forms of desk

Noun
plural	desks
Verb
third-person singular present	desks
present participle	desking
past participle	desked
past	desked

Plural of desk: desks

Origin of desk

From Middle English deske, desque, from Medieval Latin desca, modified from Old Italian desco, from Latin discus. Doublet of dais, disc, discus, dish, disk, and diskos. See also German Tisch, "table".

Words formed from desk

Phrases with desk

31 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with desk

8 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about desk

What does desk mean?: Desk means a table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.
What is desk in Hindi?: Desk in Hindi is मेज़ (mez). See Desk meaning in Hindi.
How do you use desk in a sentence?: He sat at his desk for hours, trying to finish the report.
What part of speech is desk?: Desk can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce desk?: Desk is pronounced /dɛsk/ (UK).
What is the plural of desk?: The plural of desk is desks.

Words near desk in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: desk (page history and authors); desk (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); desk (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); desk (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); desk (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); desk (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); desk (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-desk.ogg.

Cite this entry: “desk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/desk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.