desk

noun

ˈdesk 

1

a

: a table, frame, or case with a sloping or horizontal surface especially for writing and reading and often with drawers, compartments, and pigeonholes

b

: a reading table or lectern from which a liturgical service is read

c

: a table, counter, stand, or booth at which a person works

especially : such a place where people can be served or get help or information

the hotel's reception desk

2

a

: a division of an organization specializing in a particular phase of activity

the India desk in the State Department

b

: a seating position according to rank in an orchestra

a first-desk violinist

Synonyms of desk

• office
• department
• agency
• bureau

Examples of desk in a Sentence

an information desk at an airport

We will ask for directions to the restaurant at the front desk.

We went to the reception desk to check into our room.

Recent Examples on the Web

Carolyn Hax started her Washington Post advice column in 1997, after five years on the Style desk and none as a therapist. —Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2026

Sitting there at his desk, his tumbler full of water again, covered by light lace, Chitol often mulled over the contradiction in his circumstances. —Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026

Some of the time spent in this new round of interviews has been the sheriff turning the tables on the very reporter seated on the other side of his desk. —Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 19 Feb. 2026

They are filmed in side views, with the suspect and the prosecutor facing each other across the official’s desk—but this compositional symmetry is the only thing equal about the discussions taking place. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deske, dext "reading desk, lectern," borrowed from Medieval Latin descus, desca, variant of discus "raised table, platform," going back to Latin, "discus, kind of plate, gong," borrowed from Greek dískos "discus," in Late Greek also "dish, round mirror, the sun's disk, gong" — more at discus

Note: The e in the British Medieval Latin forms (and subsequent borrowing into Middle English) appears to show influence of the Romance outcome of discus, for which see note at dish entry 1. The sense "reading desk," presumably originating in monastic usage, is not limited to Britain—compare discus in Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch, which records the meaning in central Europe.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing desk

• cash desk
• city desk
• desk job
• desk jockey
• front desk
• help desk
• news desk
• partners desk
• reading desk
• rolltop desk
• writing desk

Rhymes for desk

• arabesque
• picaresque
• romanesque
• statuesque
• burlesque
• grotesque
• carnivalesque

Kids Definition

desk

noun

ˈdesk 

1

a

: a table, frame, or case with a flat or sloping surface especially for writing and reading

b

: a counter at which a person works

2

a

: a specialized division of an organization (as a newspaper)

city desk

b

: a seating position according to rank in an orchestra