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[tey-buh l] /ˈteɪ bəl/
a kitchen table; an operating table; a pool table.
the food placed on a table to be eaten:
She sets a good table.
a gaming table.
a flat or plane surface; a level area.
a tableland or plateau.
a concise list or guide:
a table of contents.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Mensa.
  1. a course or band, especially of masonry, having a distinctive form or position.
  2. a distinctively treated surface on a wall.
  1. the tablets on which certain collections of laws were anciently inscribed:
    the tables of the Decalogue.
  2. the laws themselves.
Music. a sounding board.
  1. the upper horizontal surface of a faceted gem.
  2. a gem with such a surface.
verb (used with object), tabled, tabling.
to enter in or form into a table or list.
Parliamentary Procedure.
  1. Chiefly U.S. to lay aside (a proposal, resolution, etc.) for future discussion, usually with a view to postponing or shelving the matter indefinitely.
  2. British. to present (a proposal, resolution, etc.) for discussion.
of, relating to, or for use on a table:
a table lamp.
suitable for serving at a table or for eating or drinking:
table grapes.
on the table, Parliamentary Procedure.
  1. U.S. postponed.
  2. British. submitted for consideration.
under the table,
  1. drunk.
  2. as a bribe; secretly:
    She gave money under the table to get the apartment.
He worked his way through college by waiting table.
Also, wait tables.
Related forms
tableless, adjective
untabled, adjective Unabridged
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Examples from the web for table
  • Pivot, a console table with a slight profile, has a flexible fanlike structure that allows its drawers to open simultaneously.
  • And the newly defined codes of conduct were especially important at the dinner table.
  • Position your arrangement at one corner of the table for a more casual look.
  • Apart from your roof, probably the biggest off-ground surface outside your house is the garden table.
  • The second table simply combines the rankings of today's table with yesterday's five year debt trap table.
  • Then have them write fact sheets to be placed on the table.
  • Academic scientists and clinicians need a place at the table with government and industry scientists.
British Dictionary definitions for table


a flat horizontal slab or board, usually supported by one or more legs, on which objects may be placed related adjective mensal
  2. (as modifier): table linen
  3. (in combination): a tablecloth
such a piece of furniture specially designed for any of various purposes: a backgammon table, bird table
  1. a company of persons assembled for a meal, game, etc
  2. (as modifier): table talk
any flat or level area, such as a plateau
a rectangular panel set below or above the face of a wall
(architect) another name for cordon (sense 4)
an upper horizontal facet of a cut gem
(music) the sounding board of a violin, guitar, or similar stringed instrument
  2. See multiplication table
(palmistry) an area of the palm's surface bounded by four lines
(printing) a slab of smooth metal on which ink is rolled to its proper consistency
  2. any thin flat plate, esp of bone
on the table, put forward for discussion and acceptance: we currently have our final offer on the table
turn the tables on someone, to cause a complete reversal of circumstances, esp to defeat or get the better of someone who was previously in a stronger position
verb (transitive)
to place on a table
to enter in or form into a list; tabulate
Derived Forms
tableful, noun
tableless, adjective
Word Origin
C12: via Old French from Latin tabula a writing tablet
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for table

late 12c., "board, slab, plate," from Old French table "board, plank, writing table, picture" (11c.), and late Old English tabele, from West Germanic *tabal (cf. Old High German zabel, German Tafel), both the French and Germanic words from Latin tabula "a board, plank, table," originally "small flat slab or piece" usually for inscriptions or for games, of uncertain origin, related to Umbrian tafle "on the board."


Figurative phrase turn the tables (1630s) is from backgammon (in Old and Middle English the game was called tables). Table talk is attested from 1560s, translating Latin colloquia mensalis. To table-hop is first recorded 1956. The adjectival phrase under-the-table "hidden from view" is recorded from 1949; under the table "passed out from excess drinking" is recorded from 1921. Table tennis is recorded from 1887.


in parliamentary sense, 1718, originally "to lay on the (speaker's) table for discussion," from table (n.). But in U.S. political jargon it has chiefly the sense of "to postpone indefinitely" (1866). Related: Tabled; tabling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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table in Medicine

table ta·ble (tā'bəl)





The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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Slang definitions & phrases for table

tab 4


A tabloid newspaper: just be sure the other tabs and the London papers don't have track pictures either (1990s+)

Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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table in Technology

A collection of records in a relational database.

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Idioms and Phrases with table
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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