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table

table

136 5.6
Food served regularly to guests or household members
  • noun
  • /ˈteɪbəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : comida
  • Helen: Breakfast will be on the table in the morning.
  • set the table
  • food on the table

You eat lavishly from banquet tables prepared for you by your ancestors.

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Examples

  • Residents are encouraged to help set the table, prepare portions of meals, and make cookies or bread.

    Academic text (1995)
  • We did not have a moment at the dinner table.

  • Every day it's a fight to keep food on the table, to keep the lights on.

  • The food was already on the table?

  • We went back inside the lodge and sat at the kitchen table until he came in.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Everybody's here, gathered round the table full of holiday cheer.

  • The farmer and his wife have laid out a table with simple food: a stew, bread, and wine.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • A beautiful, candlelit, food-laden table has been set up in the middle of the room.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Again and again, the procession came until the table was covered with food and relishes of every kind.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Every Sunday, the family gathers around the table to enjoy a warm meal together.

Synonyms

meal
vstable
1.0

A time when people eat, for example breakfast or dinner

is the provision of food rather than the eating occasion
board
vstable
104 4.2

Meals provided to someone in return for payment

is food given regularly to guests or household members without payment

Idioms

205 3.5

Available for discussion or decision later

60 5.5

Not available to be considered or accepted

38 2.8

To earn enough money to support yourself or your family

The right to take part in important decisions

To be completely open and honest about your plans or feelings

to run the table
  • Informal
1 7.3

Win every game or match in a series without losing any

To gain a respected place in a group by working hard

Drink more alcohol than another person until they become drunk

To talk longer and more skillfully so the other person cannot answer

To speak more and make others stop talking

Compounds

74 1.0

A table in a kitchen used for eating or working

69 1.2

A low table in front of a sofa for drinks and magazines

45 1.0

A table where people eat dinner and other meals

36 2.5

A heavy flat table with pockets used for playing pool

A table in a dining room where people eat meals

18 1.9

A small table next to a bed for a lamp, books, or a phone

operating table
  • Specialized
18 2.5

A special table in an operating room where a patient lies during surgery

12 1.0

A table for people to sit around and eat meals together

A table where people eat breakfast

A large table where people sit for meetings in an office or boardroom

11 2.6

A small folding table used for playing card games

water table
  • Specialized
10 3.9

The level underground where the soil or rock are full of water

periodic table
  • Specialized
9 3.5

A chart that shows all chemical elements by their atomic number and groups similar ones together

Done secretly to hide payments and avoid the law

A large attractive book with many photos or pictures kept on a living room table for guests to browse

8 1.4

A game like tennis played on a table with small paddles and a light ball

7 3.3

A discussion where people who are equal share ideas about a topic

Round Table
  • Literature
7 6.5

A large round table in stories about King Arthur where knights sit as equals

A list at the start of a book or document showing chapters and the pages they start on

A low table with a mirror for doing hair and makeup

A table for playing table tennis with a net in the middle

table saw
  • Specialized
5 4.2

A tool for cutting wood using a round blade that sticks up through a table

4 9.1

A member of King Arthur's court who sits at the Round Table and is brave and fair

The way plates, knives, forks, and glasses are placed for a meal

4 1.0

A white seasoning made from a common mineral to add flavor and keep food fresh

Food that comes directly from local farms with few middle sellers

3 3.6

A table where people gamble with chips and cards

3 1.0

A small light that stands on a table for reading or making a room look nice

3 2.7

A small amount of leftover food from a meal that is given to animals or thrown away

2 2.2

Cloth items like napkins and tablecloths used to cover a dining table

2 2.3

A table for doing a particular job, like sewing or woodwork

actuarial table
  • Specialized
2 8.2

A table showing the chance people of different ages will die or get ill, used by insurers and pension funds

A large flat table with a smooth cloth surface for playing games like pool or snooker

drafting table
  • Specialized
1 4.2

A large table with an adjustable top that you use for drawing plans

high table
  • Jargon
1 7.5

A table on a raised platform in a college hall where professors and guests eat

1 2.6

A game played on a table like a board game or card game

A table with a flat top held up by two or more supports and often easy to move

A table with a surface that can be tilted for drawing

1 3.9

A small table where children eat during family meals

1 1.0

A blunt tool used to cut and spread food at the table

1 2.4

A small piece of furniture for serving tea and snacks to guests

A desk with a flat top used for writing and often with drawers

1 3.0

A small low table placed in front of a sofa to hold drinks or magazines

table talk
  • Informal
1 4.5

Talk that people have while they eat a meal

1 2.9

A wine people drink with a meal

A narrow table that stands against a wall to hold decorations in a hallway or entryway

A large table that council members sit around during meetings

file allocation table
  • Specialized
1 6.3

A table on a computer disk that shows where information is stored and which areas cannot be used

mortality table
  • Specialized
1 8.3

A table showing how likely people of each age are to die and the average years they have left

1 8.8

A long narrow dining table used in monasteries or large halls

A table with one central leg instead of four legs

1 3.1

A set of matching dishes and utensils used at the dining table

table rapping
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A way people try to talk with dead people by tapping a table

A flat rectangular table with a net used to play table tennis

1 6.6

A set of meals planned for athletes and served together to help them train

A table in a church where bread and wine are placed for Communion

correlation table
  • Specialized
5.6

A table that shows how two things are related with numbers in the cells

decision table
  • Specialized
4.5

A table that lists possible conditions and the action to take for each

A table with sides that fold down to save space and lift up to make it larger

7.0

A round table where King Arthur and his knights sat as equals

A table in a church where the priest places the bread and wine for Holy Communion

A raised table on a farm that helps people milk cows

A table with hinged leaves that fold down and are held by legs that swing out

A scale divided into steps used to measure or compare things

A pine tree from Japan and Korea with a wide, uneven crown often grown in gardens

A meeting where people at the same level discuss a subject together

Parsons table
  • Specialized
7.1

A simple rectangular table with a top and legs the same width and a clean modern look

pier table
  • Archaic
9.1

A low narrow table set against a wall under a mirror in a hallway

6.5

A machine you play by hitting buttons to move a metal ball

A flat rectangular table with a net for playing table tennis

plane table
  • Specialized
8.1

A drawing board with a ruler on a tripod for mapping land features

table lifting
  • Archaic
9.9

A rising of a table during a seance that people say spirits cause it

A menu that offers a set of courses for one fixed price

How Much

feast
162 1.9
table
  • Archaic
136 5.6
meal
1.0
snack
471 1.0

Surface Forms

table singular
tables plural

Etymology

Table meaning food or meals comes from the simple idea that the table is where food is placed, so the word grew to mean the meals or what is provided at that table.