UPHOLSTERY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does upholstery mean? 

• UPHOLSTERY (noun)
  The noun UPHOLSTERY has 2 senses:

1. covering (padding and springs and webbing and fabric) on a piece of furniture

2. the craft of upholstering

  Familiarity information: UPHOLSTERY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UPHOLSTERY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Covering (padding and springs and webbing and fabric) on a piece of furniture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("upholstery" is a kind of...):

covering (an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it))

Holonyms ("upholstery" is a part of...):

seat (furniture that is designed for sitting on)

Derivation:

upholster (provide furniture with padding, springs, webbing, and covers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The craft of upholstering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("upholstery" is a kind of...):

craft; trade (the skilled practice of a practical occupation)

Derivation:

upholster (provide furniture with padding, springs, webbing, and covers)

 Context examples 

A spare parlour and bedroom I refurnished entirely, with old mahogany and crimson upholstery: I laid canvas on the passage, and carpets on the stairs.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The curtains and upholstery of the chairs and sofas and the hangings of my bed are of the costliest and most beautiful fabrics, and must have been of fabulous value when they were made, for they are centuries old, though in excellent order.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Upstairs, in the solemn echoing drive she let four taxi cabs drive away before she selected a new one, lavender-colored with grey upholstery, and in this we slid out from the mass of the station into the glowing sunshine.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)