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Glite Dictionary
airing cupboard

airing cupboard

6.8
A warm cupboard that has a water heater and keeps towels and sheets dry
  • noun
  • /ˈɛərɪŋ ˈkʌbərd/
  • UK
: armario de secado
  • After washing the linens, they were neatly folded and stored in the airing cupboard.

A hot press is, is the Irish word for what the English would call an airing cupboard.

Examples

  • The airing cupboard helps to keep our towels soft and fluffy by providing gentle warmth.

  • I used my yogurt maker, but a slow cooker on the lowest setting will do, or you can keep the jars in a warm airing cupboard or on a radiator.

    Blog text (31)

  • - Just your airing cupboard.

    Secrets & Lies (1996)

  • Put it in a bag of rice in the airing cupboard.

    Predator: Badlands (2025)

  • This, um, airing cupboard is lovely and cosy.

    Benny Loves You (2019)

  • We can put some of Victor's things in the airing cupboard for the moment.

    A Kind of Loving (1962)

  • Mum calls it the airing cupboard, even though there's hardly any air in it.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • She said it lived in the airing cupboard, and I believed her because it looked a bit like a monster's den.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I found a spanner in the airing cupboard once, but it wasn't any big surprise.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Don't force dry them on the radiator or in the airing cupboard, and especially not in the tumble dryer.

    Blog text (13)

Synonyms

closet
vsairing cupboard
  • US
755 1.0

A small space for keeping clothes and other things

is warm and used to dry fabrics by housing a heater
cupboard
vsairing cupboard
79 1.0

A cabinet with shelves for storing dishes or food

is a warm enclosed space used to dry fabrics using built-in heat
clothes dryer
vsairing cupboard
  • US
2 1.2

A machine that removes water from wet clothes using warm air

is a warm storage space that dries items passively rather than mechanically

Surface Forms

airing cupboard singular
airing cupboards plural

Morphology

airing + cupboard

The meaning 'a cupboard used for drying clothes' follows directly from combining 'airing' (ventilating/drying) with 'cupboard' (a storage cabinet). This modifier+noun composition is straightforward and compositional, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The noun airing cupboard comes from old houses where a warm cupboard near the hot water tank let people do the airing of wet clothes and towels so they would dry and stay warm. That's why the phrase means a warm space for 'drying' clothes and keeping linens warm and dry.