tea napkin
- noun
:
servilleta de té
- The hostess replaced the soiled tea napkin with a fresh one before serving dessert.
Examples
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Each guest was given a crisp tea napkin with their cup and saucer.
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She embroidered her initials on the corner of every tea napkin.
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Please pass me a tea napkin.
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The waiter placed a tea napkin on the table.
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Each guest was given a crisp tea napkin to protect their clothing while enjoying tea.
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She embroidered her initials on the corner of each tea napkin she used for afternoon tea.
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The hostess replaced the soiled tea napkin with a clean one before serving the cakes.
Synonyms
168
1.0
A small piece of cloth or paper used at meals to wipe the mouth and hands
1
1.0
A large piece of cloth or paper people use at dinner to protect clothes and wipe the mouth and hands
A small piece of cloth or paper used at meals to wipe your mouth and hands
How Absorbent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward noun–noun compound where 'tea' specifies the context/use and 'napkin' names the object, so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a napkin used for tea service. This compositional pattern is common in English and other languages, making the meaning immediately accessible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Tea napkin comes from the small cloth put with a cup at afternoon tea; people would put it on their lap or use it to hold a hot cup and catch crumbs so their clothes stayed clean. Because it was a cloth made for tea and used as a small napkin, the phrase now means 'a small napkin used when tea is served'.