dinner service
5
2.9
- noun
:
servicio de mesa
- To celebrate, he commissioned the world-famous porcelain factory at Sevres to produce an Egyptian dinner service for sixty-six.
Examples
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And it is the silver dinner service of someone with a very great deal of money.
-
Her dinner service came to us.
Fiction book (1991) -
In contrast to our "pay-what-you-can" Wednesday dinner service, the after-dark service features reasonably priced food especially for night owls.
Blog text (9) -
What she really wanted to buy was the beginnings of a dinner service, or a deluxe Cuisinart, or something tasteful for the bedroom, and she found herself beating her head in frustration and thinking, "If only, if only."
Fiction book (1995) -
The white china dinner service was beautifully arranged on the table for the special occasion.
-
They use a fine dinner service made of porcelain for formal gatherings and celebrations.
-
My grandmother passed down her vintage dinner service, which includes matching plates and silverware.
Synonyms
76
3.6
Delicate, high-quality dishes made of porcelain for special occasions
33
4.4
A set of matching plates, cups and cutlery for serving meals
6
3.5
Plates, cups, and dishes used for serving or eating food
5
2.7
Items like plates and bowls for serving and eating food at a meal
2
2.7
Plates, glasses, and cutlery used for serving and eating food at a table
1
2.8
Plates, bowls, and cups used for serving and eating food
1
1.3
A matching set of plates, bowls, and cups for serving dinner
1
3.1
A set of matching dishes and utensils used at the dining table
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'dinner' (the main meal) combined with 'service' (a matching set of crockery/cutlery) yields the set used for dinner. This noun-noun compounding follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Dinner service comes from the idea of a service, meaning the dishes and utensils brought out to serve dinner. So today it means a matching 'set' of plates, knives, forks and sometimes glasses used for a formal meal.