Definition of "escritoire"

escritoire

/ˌɛskɹiˈtwɑː/

noun
plural escritoires
1. A writing desk with a hinged door that provides the writing surface.
  Quotations
  To surprise him, by finding on his table the books he liked, or the escritoire he had occasion for, gave Louisa the most delightful moments life had hitherto afforded her;...
  1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, pages 199–200
  Fine promenades, domed saloons, long galleries, sunny balconies, confidential passages, bridal chambers, state-rooms plenty as pigeon-holes, and out-of-the-way retreats like secret drawers in an escritoire, present like facilities for publicity or privacy.
  1857, Herman Melville, chapter II, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade
  Rosemary sat at her Public Works Department escritoire, in a sea of fed cats, and tried to write a letter to Vythilingam.
  1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 561