DictionaryAI

table

SayTAY-buhl/ˈteɪbl̩//ˈtæɪ.bəl/

Pluraltables

Verbtables, tabling, tabled

26 meanings of table

Practice

  1. 1
    dining furniturenouncountable
    A piece of furniture with a raised, flat top, usually supported by legs, used for eating, working, or playing games.

    The carpenter sanded the table until its surface was perfectly smooth.

    Guests left their coats on a long table near the entrance.

    UsageSit at the table, put things on it. Set or lay the table means put out plates and cutlery.

    Note

    The flat board is the image behind most of the word's other uses, from a playing surface to a grid of figures.

  2. 2
    data gridnouncountable
    An arrangement of data or figures in rows and columns, such as a chart of results or a multiplication table.

    The scientist summarized her results in a single table.

    Each row of the table listed a country and its population.

    UsageFigures go in a table, in its rows and columns. The verb for this is usually tabulate.

    Similarchart, grid

    Note

    The Latin tabula behind the word meant "chart" as well as "board", so the grid of rows and columns has deep roots.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Latin tabula, the source of English table, meant both "chart" and "board", providing an ancient connection with recorded information. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    league standingsnouncountable
    A ranked listing of teams or competitors showing their relative standing based on results over a set period.

    A late goal lifted them three places up the table.

    By April, the table showed a clear gap between the top two clubs.

    UsageTeams are in the table and move up or down the table; the leader is top of the table.

    Similarstandings, rankings, ladder

  4. 4
    people seatednouncountable
    A group of people sitting at a table together, for a meal, a meeting or a game.

    The entire table fell silent when the chairman stood.

    Our table split into two groups for the next round.

    UsageUsually takes a singular verb: the whole table fell silent.

    Note

    Shakespeare uses it in Hamlet: Yorick's flashes of merriment were wont to set the table on a roar, meaning the whole company and not the furniture. In the American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897), a dining-room table becomes the abode of scintillating wit.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  5. 5
    put forwardverbUKCommonwealthtransitive
    To formally propose a matter for discussion by a committee or legislative body, placing it on the agenda.

    The opposition plans to table an amendment to the bill.

    She will table the report so the board can review it formally.

    UsageAmerican English uses table for the opposite, to set aside, so propose or put forward is clearer for mixed readers.

    Similarpropose, moot

    Note

    In British parliamentary language, tabling brings a matter forward. The Guardian reported in 2019 that Jeremy Corbyn had tabled a motion of no confidence in the government for MPs to vote on.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The Guardian reported in 2019 that Jeremy Corbyn had tabled a no-confidence motion for MPs to vote on. theguardian.com
  6. 6
    nouncountable
    An organized set of stored values, often arranged as vectors, used to look up data quickly.

    The function reads a lookup table instead of recalculating each result.

    Engineers built a table mapping each sensor reading to a calibrated value.

    Note

    Programmers reach for a lookup table to trade memory for speed. Values are worked out once, stored, often as vectors, and then read back instead of recalculated. In this use table usually stands for lookup table, while a database table, which stores records in rows, is the wider sense of a grid of data.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Lookup tables trade memory for speed by storing precomputed results instead of repeatedly calculating them. technav.ieee.org
    • The stored data are often arranged as vectors. en.wiktionary.org
    • A database table organizes records in rows and columns. postgresql.org
  7. 7
    host's mealsnouncountable
    The food and hospitality provided by a host or household; the spread of fare offered.

    The old manor was famous for its lavish table.

    She kept a good table, and guests rarely left hungry.

    UsageUsually keep a good table or keep a fine table, said in praise of a host.

    Similarfare, spread, cuisine

    Note

    A household is judged by what it serves. Someone who keeps a fine table, or a good one, feeds guests generously. The meaning has moved from the furniture to the food set upon it.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The food-and-hospitality sense extends the furniture sense of table. en.wiktionary.org
  8. 8
    boothnounmetonymicallycountable
    A booth or display stand set up at an event such as a fair or exposition.

    Each charity was given a table in the exhibition hall.

    She booked a table at the trade show to promote her startup.

    Similarbooth, stand, stall

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of table apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Latin tabula ("tablet, board, plank, chart") was borrowed early into Germanic, giving Old English tabule and tabula ("board"), which English inherited as Middle English table. The meaning "piece of furniture" came separately from Old French table, which has the same Latin source, because Old English used bēod or bord for that. Table, tabula, and tavla are doublets.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts