A desk is a generally wooded piece of furniture and a type of useful table often used in a school or office setting for various academic activities such as reading or writing on or using a computer.
Desks often have one or more drawers, compartments, or pigeon holes to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on (though there are some exceptions, such as a partners desk). Not all desks have the form of a table. For instance, an armoire desk is a desk built within a large wardrobe-like cabinet, and a portable desk is light enough to be placed on a person's lap. Since many people lean on a desk while using it, a desk must be sturdy. Desk were first made from wood, but are slowly being converted into harder materials that last longer.
A desk is also known as a bureau, counter, davenport, escritoire, lectern, reading stand, rolltop desk, school desk, workspace or writing desk. In Spanish a desk is called el escritorio.
Read more about Desk: Etymology, Early Desks, Industrial Era, Steel Desks, Student Desks, Influence of Computers, Famous Desk, In Literature
Famous quotes containing the word desk:
“There was a girl who was running the traffic desk, and there was a woman who was on the overnight for radio as a producer, and my desk assistant was a woman. So when the world came to an end, we took over.”
—Marya McLaughlin, U.S. television newswoman. As quoted in Women in Television News, ch. 3, by Judith S. Gelfman (1976)
“We must rest here, for this is where the teacher comes.
On his desk stands a vase of tears.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“It’s true, as Marya Mannes says: “No one believes [a woman’s] time to be sacred. A man at his desk in a room with a closed door is a man at work. A woman at a desk in any room is available.””
—Lillian Breslow Rubin (20th century)