hope chest
3
7.0
- noun
- /hoʊp tʃɛst/
- Archaic
:
cofre de esperanza
- He opened the hope chest and revealed a collection of beautiful dresses she had been saving for her special day.
- hope chest sat
- own hope chest
Examples
-
She kept it folded in tissue paper in her hope chest, as if it were like the family china kept in the cupboard behind glass, too precious to use.
Fiction book (1998) -
At the foot of their parents' bed sits a walnut hope chest, covered with a tapestry.
Fiction book (1995) -
This will be your hope chest, my darling.
-
Oh, I know, the hope chest!
-
I came across the key to my hope chest today.
Fiction book (1996) -
I wondered if she still kept a hope chest.
Fiction book (1997) -
A hope chest filled with the things I should have put in it and didn't.
-
Sheets and pillows are in the hope chest.
Fiction book (1995) -
As a child, she began filling her hope chest with handmade quilts and family heirlooms for her future home.
-
Her mother taught her how to arrange linens in the hope chest to keep them in perfect condition for her wedding.
Synonyms
363
1.0
A large strong box for storing clothes or valuables
7
2.6
A piece of furniture with drawers for storing clothes and small items
1
4.0
A wooden box made of cedar for keeping clothes and sheets safe from moths
A large wooden box used to keep clothes and household items before marriage
A tall chest of drawers for storing clothes and sheets
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is partly compositional: 'chest' (a box for storing things) combined with 'hope' (expectation) can suggest a box for items one is hoping for, so a learner could guess it stores desired belongings. However the conventionalized, culturally specific sense — a chest for collecting linens and household items in anticipation of marriage (trousseau) — is not fully predictable from the parts for an average B1 learner, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Hope chest comes from a real wooden box that young women used to fill with clothes, linens, and small gifts while they were waiting to marry. The word hope shows their wish for a future family and chest is the box, so the phrase means 'a box kept for items for a future home'.