n.; pl. E. Bureaus F. Bureaux [ F. bureau a writing table, desk, office, OF., drugget, with which a writing table was often covered, equiv. to F. bure, and fr. OF. buire dark brown, the stuff being named from its color, fr. L. burrus red, fr. Gr. &unr_; flame-colored, prob. fr. &unr_; fire. See Fire, n., and cf. Borel, n. ] 1. Originally, a desk or writing table with drawers for papers. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The place where such a bureau is used; an office where business requiring writing is transacted. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence: A department of public business requiring a force of clerks; the body of officials in a department who labor under the direction of a chief. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ On the continent of Europe, the highest departments, in most countries, have the name of bureaux; as, the Bureau of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In England and America, the term is confined to inferior and subordinate departments; as, the “Pension Bureau, ” a subdepartment of the Department of the Interior. [ Obs. ] In Spanish, bureo denotes a court of justice for the trial of persons belonging to the king's household. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A chest of drawers for clothes, especially when made as an ornamental piece of furniture. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bureau system. See Bureaucracy. --
Bureau Veritas, an institution, in the interest of maritime underwriters, for the survey and rating of vessels all over the world. It was founded in Belgium in 1828, removed to Paris in 1830, and reëstablished in Brussels in 1870. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bureau + Gr. &unr_; to be strong, to govern, &unr_; strength: cf. F. bureaucratie. ] 1. A system of carrying on the business of government by means of departments or bureaus, each under the control of a chief, in contradiction to a system in which the officers of government have an associated authority and responsibility; also, government conducted on this system. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Government officials, collectively; -- used especially of nonelected government officials. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. An official of a bureau; esp. an official confirmed in a narrow and arbitrary routine. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the formal and often obscure style of writing characteristic of some government officials; officialese; -- it is characterized by euphemisms, circumlocutions, vague abstractions, and circumlocutions. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. bureaucratique. ] Of, relating to, or resembling, a bureaucracy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. nonelective government officials; same as bureaucracy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. An advocate for, or supporter of, bureaucracy. [ 1913 Webster ]