chifferobe

A closet-like piece of furniture that combines a long space for hanging clothes (that is, a wardrobe or armoire) with a chest of drawers. Chifferobes were first advertised in the 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue, which described them as "a modern invention, having been in use only a short time." The term itself is a portmanteau of the words chiffonier and wardrobe. It is used in the United States, primarily in the southern portion of the country, and in Cuba. Pronounced shif-uh-rohb or shif-rohb. In Spanish as "chief-o-robay."

The word "chifferobe" appears frequently in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson "busts up a chifferobe" for Mayella Ewell, which her father uses as kindling.

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