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Table linen   /tˈeɪbəl lˈɪnən/   Listen
noun
Table  n.  
1.
A smooth, flat surface, like the side of a board; a thin, flat, smooth piece of anything; a slab. "A bagnio paved with fair tables of marble."
2.
A thin, flat piece of wood, stone, metal, or other material, on which anything is cut, traced, written, or painted; a tablet; pl. A memorandum book. "The names... written on his tables." "And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest." "And stand there with your tables to glean The golden sentences."
3.
Any smooth, flat surface upon which an inscription, a drawing, or the like, may be produced. "Painted in a table plain." "The opposite walls are painted by Rubens, which, with that other of the Infanta taking leave of Don Philip, is a most incomparable table." "St. Antony has a table that hangs up to him from a poor peasant."
4.
Hence, in a great variety of applications: A condensed statement which may be comprehended by the eye in a single view; a methodical or systematic synopsis; the presentation of many items or particulars in one group; a scheme; a schedule. Specifically:
(a)
(Bibliog.) A view of the contents of a work; a statement of the principal topics discussed; an index; a syllabus; a synopsis; as, a table of contents.
(b)
(Chem.) A list of substances and their properties; especially, the a list of the elementary substances with their atomic weights, densities, symbols, etc.; the periodic table of the elements.
(c)
(Mathematics, Science and Technology) Any collection and arrangement in a condensed form of many particulars or values, for ready reference, as of weights, measures, currency, specific gravities, etc.; also, a series of numbers following some law, and expressing particular values corresponding to certain other numbers on which they depend, and by means of which they are taken out for use in computations; as, tables of logarithms, sines, tangents, squares, cubes, etc.; annuity tables; interest tables; astronomical tables; a table of logarithms, etc.
(d)
(Palmistry) The arrangement or disposition of the lines which appear on the inside of the hand. "Mistress of a fairer table Hath not history for fable."
5.
An article of furniture, consisting of a flat slab, board, or the like, having a smooth surface, fixed horizontally on legs, and used for a great variety of purposes, as in eating, writing, or working. "We may again Give to our tables meat." "The nymph the table spread."
6.
Hence, food placed on a table to be partaken of; fare; entertainment; as, to set a good table.
7.
The company assembled round a table. "I drink the general joy of the whole table."
8.
(Anat.) One of the two, external and internal, layers of compact bone, separated by diploe, in the walls of the cranium.
9.
(Arch.) A stringcourse which includes an offset; esp., a band of stone, or the like, set where an offset is required, so as to make it decorative. See Water table.
10.
(Games)
(a)
The board on the opposite sides of which backgammon and draughts are played.
(b)
One of the divisions of a backgammon board; as, to play into the right-hand table.
(c)
pl. The games of backgammon and of draughts. (Obs.) "This is the ape of form, monsieur the nice, That, when he plays at tables, chides the dice."
11.
(Glass Manuf.) A circular plate of crown glass. "A circular plate or table of about five feet diameter weighs on an average nine pounds."
12.
(Jewelry) The upper flat surface of a diamond or other precious stone, the sides of which are cut in angles.
13.
(Persp.) A plane surface, supposed to be transparent and perpendicular to the horizon; called also perspective plane.
14.
(Mach.) The part of a machine tool on which the work rests and is fastened.
Bench table, Card table, Communion table, Lord's table, etc. See under Bench, Card, etc.
Raised table (Arch. & Sculp.), a raised or projecting member of a flat surface, large in proportion to the projection, and usually rectangular, especially intended to receive an inscription or the like.
Roller table (Horology), a flat disk on the arbor of the balance of a watch, holding the jewel which rolls in and out of the fork at the end of the lever of the escapement.
Round table. See Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
Table anvil, a small anvil to be fastened to a table for use in making slight repairs.
Table base. (Arch.) Same as Water table.
Table bed, a bed in the form of a table.
Table beer, beer for table, or for common use; small beer.
Table bell, a small bell to be used at table for calling servants.
Table cover, a cloth for covering a table, especially at other than mealtimes.
Table diamond, a thin diamond cut with a flat upper surface.
Table linen, linen tablecloth, napkins, and the like.
Table money (Mil. or Naut.), an allowance sometimes made to officers over and above their pay, for table expenses.
Table rent (O. Eng. Law), rent paid to a bishop or religious, reserved or appropriated to his table or housekeeping.
Table shore (Naut.), a low, level shore.
Table talk, conversation at table, or at meals.
Table talker, one who talks at table.
Table tipping, Table turning, certain movements of tables, etc., attributed by some to the agency of departed spirits, and by others to the development of latent vital or spriritual forces, but more commonly ascribed to the muscular force of persons in connection with the objects moved, or to physical force applied otherwise.
Tables of a girder or Tables of a chord (Engin.), the upper and lower horizontal members.
To lay on the table, in parliamentary usage, to lay, as a report, motion, etc., on the table of the presiding officer, that is, to postpone the consideration of, by a vote; also called to table. It is a tactic often used with the intention of postponing consideration of a motion indefinitely, that is, to kill the motion.
To serve tables (Script.), to provide for the poor, or to distribute provisions for their wants.
To turn the tables, to change the condition or fortune of contending parties; a metaphorical expression taken from the vicissitudes of fortune in gaming.
Twelve tables (Rom. Antiq.), a celebrated body of Roman laws, framed by decemvirs appointed 450 years before Christ, on the return of deputies or commissioners who had been sent to Greece to examine into foreign laws and institutions. They consisted partly of laws transcribed from the institutions of other nations, partly of such as were altered and accommodated to the manners of the Romans, partly of new provisions, and mainly, perhaps, of laws and usages under their ancient kings.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Table linen" Quotes from Famous Books



... camp-meeting when he died—wailing and weeping by the Negroes for their old Marster. She said the slaves had the same food that the white family had and the same warm clothes for winter. All clothing, bed sheeting, table linen, towels, etc. were hand woven. They raised sheep for wool, and flax for linen, but I don't know where they got the cotton they used. The work of the house and farm was divided as with a big family. Some of the women cooked, sewed, wove, washed, milked, but was never sent to the field. None of the ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves - Georgia Narratives, Part 4 • Works Projects Administration
... discomfort and nausea that had followed the first period of faintness had passed, Nancy had slipped off the shabby satin dress, made like the long-sleeved kitchen apron of New England extraction, and attired the child in a craftily simulated night-gown of table linen. Collier Pratt had worked with her, deftly supplementing all her efforts for his little girl's comfort until she had fallen into the exhausted sleep from which she was only now rousing and beginning to ...
— Outside Inn • Ethel M. Kelley
... settle here in the living room and it shall be my pleasure to make cushions for it. And oh, Polly, he has learned to smoke while he was soldiering! Of course Aunt Lois will want some of the old things, and she has chests of bed and table linen. But we can buy some plates and cups. Aunt Lois had some pretty Delft ware that I used to dry on nice soft towels when I was a little girl. We will hunt the ...
— A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia • Amanda Minnie Douglas
... and furniture. A flock bed, (being half feathers) & furniture. A flock bed & furniture. Five payre of sheets & an odd one. Table linen. Fower payre of pillow-beeres. Twenty-two pieces of pewter. For Iron pott, tongs, cottrell & pot-hooks. Two muskets & a fowling-piece. Sword, cutlass & bandaleeres. Barrels, tubbs, trays, cheese-moates and pailes. A Stand. Bedsteads, cords ...
— Anne Bradstreet and Her Time • Helen Campbell
... that, Miss. I knew ye wouldn't be satisfied with what this cabin contains, but would want many things extry. I s'pose ye'll order a hull outfit of table linen, a set of chiny dishes, a new coffee pot, an' dear knows what all. I'd have to go to the city ...
— Jess of the Rebel Trail • H. A. Cody
... all feel, sincerely and without misgiving, that we are the more lifted up in spirit for having, even in the privacy of our own household, eaten our daily meal by the help of hand-wrought silver utensils, from hand-painted china (often of dubious artistic value) laid on high-priced table linen. Any retrogression from the standard of living which we are accustomed to regard as worthy in this respect is felt to be a grievous violation of our human dignity. So, also, for the last dozen years candles have been a more pleasing source of light at dinner than any other. Candlelight is now ...
— The Theory of the Leisure Class • Thorstein Veblen
... for me should find in me a considerate friend who would look after their interests in a reasonable and neighborly fashion. They should be well housed and well fed, and should have clean beds, clean table linen and an attractively set table, papers, magazines, and books, and a comfortable room in which to read them. There should be reasonable work hours and hours for recreation, and abundant bathing facilities; and everything at Four Oaks should ...
— The Fat of the Land - The Story of an American Farm • John Williams Streeter
... her Turkish shawl; she even tried to put on a pair of diamond earrings, but gave up the attempt impatiently, telling herself that the holes in her ears had grown together. Then she sent word to Vera and Marfinka to change their dresses. In passing she told Vassilissa to set out the best table linen, and the old silver and glass for the breakfast and the dinner table. The cook was ordered to serve chocolate in addition to the usual dishes, and sweets and champagne were ordered. With folded hands, adorned for the occasion ...
— The Precipice • Ivan Goncharov
... woven cloths, silks, etc., are called by the name of the place from which they come, or from which they first came. Cashmere, a favourite smooth woollen material, is called after Cashmir, in India. Damask, the material of which table linen is generally made, takes its name from Damascus; as does holland, the light brownish cotton stuff used so much for children's frocks and overalls, from Holland, and the rough woollen material known as frieze from Friesland. Cambric, ...
— Stories That Words Tell Us • Elizabeth O'Neill


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