place setting
- noun
- Before the guests arrived, she carefully arranged a place setting for each person around the table.
And then what I'm doing is I we have the individual glasses and I am like hand tying bows around each place setting.
- And then what I'm doing is I we have the individual glasses and I am like hand tying bows around each place setting.
Examples
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Daniel, looking scrubbed, sat down at the table, frowning as he regarded the two place settings.
Fiction book (1997) -
An elegant formal place setting complete with a myriad of different-sized forks, spoons, stacked china plates, and crystal glassware.
Fiction book (1990) -
I will get you a place setting.
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Oh, we're gonna need another place setting.
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A place setting for your mother while she and I have a little talk.
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On the table are place settings, white wine, and glasses.
Fiction book (1990) -
Sid, I will need place settings for 10!
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Everyone looked down at their place settings and toyed with their flatware.
Fiction book (1992) -
Basil regarded the silver at his place setting with dismay.
Fiction book (2001) -
On the dining table, she's got the most elaborate place settings I've ever seen at the home of a peer.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
A set of plates, cups, and cutlery for one person
How Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'place' (a person’s seat or position at the table) + 'setting' (an arrangement of tableware), so together they denote the tableware arranged for one person. This is a common noun+noun compound in English (and has clear parallels in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Place setting paints a simple picture: the place at the table and the setting of things, like a plate, fork, knife and cup, put there for one person. So it means 'a set of tableware' for one person's spot at a meal.