mantlepiece
1
4.8
- noun
- /ˈmæntəlˌpiːs/
:
repisa
- She decorated the mantlepiece with family photos and seasonal ornaments.
- mantlepiece clock
- pictures on the mantlepiece
Examples
-
The mantlepiece, with smashed photos lying askew, could be seen through the clear washed glass.
Fiction book (1994) -
But then, what do you have in common with the child of five whose photograph your mother keeps on the mantlepiece?
Blog text (10) -
Father stood away from me and put his head on the mantlepiece near the photos.
Fiction book (1998) -
The clock on the mantlepiece sounded very loud, so did the rain, so did my breathing, and I looked out the window.
Fiction book (1998) -
Everyone, even the soldiers, looked at the floor, and the mantlepiece clock was ticking, and Mammy's picture.
Fiction book (1998) -
She glanced at the clock on the mantlepiece.
Fiction book (1995) -
He reached out and gripped the mantlepiece over the hearth to steady himself.
Fiction book (1990) -
Not long after Pauline disappeared, I was having a drink before supper when Jack came in holding up a long stalactite, like an icicle, and put it on the mantlepiece.
Fiction book (1994) -
What I did find, hidden, strewn, tucked, hanging off the backs of chairs, piled on the mantlepiece, were twenty-seven sets of rosary beads.
Fiction book (1991) -
Her eyes had come to rest, as though drawn, on an unfamiliar object on the mantlepiece: a box of polished ebony, on carved legs, intricately inlaid with what looked like mother-of-pearl.
Fiction book (1997)
Synonyms
26
4.4
A shelf above a fireplace that holds decorations
14
5.6
A shelf above a fireplace for showing clocks or photos
A shelf above a fireplace that holds photos or candles
A shelf above a fireplace that holds pictures or small objects
How Decorative
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Mantlepiece comes from mantle, which originally meant a 'cloak' or covering, and piece, meaning a part. Imagine a cloak hung over the fireplace that became a small shelf — that's why a mantlepiece is the shelf above a fireplace where people put clocks and photos.