Meaning

• Noun

  1. A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a drawer or repository underneath.
  2. A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (especially in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for the clerical profession.
  3. A department tasked with a particular topic or focus in certain types of businesses, such as newspapers and financial trading firms.
  4. Short for mixing desk.
  5. A station for a string player in an orchestra, consisting of a chair and a music stand, or a row of such stations.

• Verb