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Glite Dictionary
on the table

on the table

205 3.5
Available for discussion or decision later
  • idiom
translation icon : sobre la mesa
  • Honestly, we put a solid offer on the table.
  • put on the table
  • an issue on the table
  • a proposal on the table

Dreams, goals, priorities, everything was on the table.

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Examples

  • And then we walk into that meeting on Tuesday and just throw it on the table.

    The Cobweb (1955)

  • OK, now that that's out on the table, do you have guesses?

  • And then the third direction that you just brought on the table is the peace process.

  • So the question put on the table is, which other countries might join?

    Academic text (1997)

  • If the offer's still on the table, I'd like to talk about it.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • All those questions are on the table once we start appealing to tradition.

  • And it needs to be on the table for prospective neighbors.

    Academic text (2009)

  • So, we have an offer on the table from Jerry Jarrett.

    The Iron Claw (2023)

  • There are four viewpoints on the table when you talk about a free movement labor policy.

    Academic text (1999)

  • We have put several proposals on the table for the committee to consider during the meeting.

Synonyms

open
vson the table
579 1.0

Not decided and still possible to change

refers specifically to items available for discussion and decision
negotiable
vson the table
23 4.2

Can be discussed and changed by agreement between people

is available for discussion but not necessarily requiring bargaining

Antonyms

off the table
60 5.5

Not available to be considered or accepted

decided
2.6

Very clear and easy to notice

How Open

on the table
205 3.5
closed
4.1

Surface Forms

on the table positive

Morphology

on + the + table

The sense 'available to be discussed' is a metaphorical extension of the literal idea of something placed 'on the table' and so a learner who knows 'on' and 'table' (as a surface) can often infer this figurative meaning. However, it requires a figurative mapping rather than strict compositionality and can be confused by competing senses of 'table' (e.g. the verb sense 'to table a motion'), so the relation is only partially predictable.

Etymology

On the table may come from the simple image of putting papers or offers on a meeting table so everyone can see them. When something is literally on the table, it is there to look at and talk about, so the phrase now means 'available to be discussed' or 'not decided yet'.