Special Sub-Topic: Can You Eat a Hassock? Click Here To Play: Can You Eat a Hassock?

A hassock is a _______.

footstool. Another meaning for this Middle English word is "tussock, or clump of ground tufted with grass."

An antimacassar is a/an _______.

cover to protect furniture. Macassar was a kind of hair oil. Antimacassars were originally invented to protect furniture when macassar users leaned back. Antimacassars are those little crocheted doily-type things that your grandma used to put on the backs and arms of sofas and armchairs (or, at least, my grandma did).

A balustrade is a _______.

low barrier. Balusters are those vase-shaped upright supports. When a line of balusters are topped by a railing, it's called a balustrade.

A chiffonier is a _______.

chest of drawers. If you saw the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" or read "The Catcher in the Rye" you have heard about "chifferobes" and chiffoniers.

A tureen is a ________.

deep serving dish. Tureens were often used to serve soup. This word is from Middle French.

A valance is a _______.

drape. Those long, narrow tablecloth-like draperies on altars are valances. So are those long, narrow strips of cloth that hide the tops of longer curtains. In the UK valences are linens that decorate beds' bottom edges (the U.S. terms for these are "bedskirts" or "dust ruffles").

Here's a freebie: A goblet is a _______.

drinking glass. A goblet has a foot and a stem. A tumbler doesn't.

A vanity is a _______.

dressing table. There are also vanity cases (dressing cases) and make-up compacts called vanities.

A porte cochere is a _______.

roofed structure over an entrance. Most fancy hotels have porte cocheres to protect guests as they step out of vehicles. Literally, "porte cochere" means "coach door" (in French).

What does a chafing dish do?

keeps food hot. Chafe comes from a Middle English word that means "to keep warm." For example, when you chafe your hands you rub them together to warm them. Chafing dishes sometimes have places beneath them for cans of Sterno brand chafing fuel. These cans of flammable gel are lit like candles.