table tipping
- noun
- /ˈteɪbəl ˈtɪpɪŋ/
- Archaic
:
movimiento de la mesa
- During the séance, the group claimed that table tipping allowed them to communicate with spirits.
Examples
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Skeptics believe that table tipping is caused by unconscious movements rather than supernatural forces.
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In the 19th century, table tipping became a popular tool among spiritualists.
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During the séance, we experienced table tipping.
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I have heard stories about table tipping in haunted houses.
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During the séance, the group claimed that table tipping allowed them to communicate with spirits.
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In the 19th century, table tipping became a popular tool among spiritualists.
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Many people believe that table tipping can reveal messages from beyond during a séance.
Synonyms
A practice where a table moves during a meeting to contact spirits
A spiritual practice where people say a table moves during a meeting with spirits
A rising of a table during a seance that people say spirits cause it
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase can be literally parsed from 'table' + 'tipping' as the action of tilting or overturning a table, so the basic physical meaning is transparent to a learner who knows both words. However, the specialized sense referring to séance activity attributed to spirits is a culturally specific, pragmatic extension that is not predictable from the constituents alone, so learners unfamiliar with spiritualist contexts would likely miss that nuance.
Etymology
Table tipping comes from old séances where people sat around a small table and watched it begin tipping as a sign that 'spirits' were near. That's why the term means the movement of a table during a séance, often seen as a way 'to communicate' with the dead.
