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dining table

dining table

12 1.0
A table for people to sit around and eat meals together
  • noun
  • /ˈdaɪnɪŋ ˈteɪbəl/
translation icon : mesa de comedor
  • Dave and Murray sit on either side of a huge dining table with papers strewn all around them.

It's just a real simple white dining table from Herman Miller.

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Examples

  • The boy set it down on a broad wooden dining table built to accommodate a growing family.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • See that dining table there?

  • I finally have space for a dining table which is amazing.

  • The two mice saw that the dining table was set for dinner.

  • Twenty minutes later, everyone is gathered around a long wooden dining table just off the kitchen.

    Academic text (1997)
  • It's just a real simple white dining table from Herman Miller.

  • We started our early mornings around the dining table, inhaling coffee before another day of classes.

    Academic text (1996)
  • In the last two weeks the only time I've seen her is at the dining table and every time we start to talk, we get interrupted.

  • As she carried the turkey to the dining table, it fell onto the floor.

  • The two mice saw that the dining table was set for dinner.

Synonyms

dinner table
vsdining table
45 1.0

A table where people eat dinner and other meals

is made for sitting around and eating together rather than for a specific meal
dining-room table
vsdining table
23 1.0

A table in a dining room where people eat meals

is about being designed for people to sit around and eat together not about location
board
vsdining table
  • Archaic
6 9.9

A table where people eat meals together

is the modern term used in everyday speech instead of the older word
refectory table
vsdining table
  • UK
1 8.8

A long narrow dining table used in monasteries or large halls

is the general form for seating people to eat together not this special style

How Complex

buffet
13 6.2
sideboard
9 4.4
dining table
12 1.0
stool
95 1.0

Surface Forms

dining table singular
dining tables plural

Morphology

dining + table

The meaning 'a table designed for people to sit around and eat meals together' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'dining' (relating to eating) with 'table' (a piece of furniture). This compositional noun+noun/adj+noun pattern is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Dining table comes from two plain words: dining (eating a meal) and table (a piece of furniture you put things on). The picture is of a special table where people sit together to 'eat', so dining table today means 'a table for people to eat meals together'.