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ta·ble (tābəl)
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n.
1. A piece of furniture usually supported by one or more legs and having a flat top surface on which objects can be placed: a dinner table; a poker table.
2.
a. The objects laid out for a meal on this article of furniture.
b. The food and drink served at meals; fare: kept an excellent table.
c. The company of people assembled around a table, as for a meal.
3. Games
a. Either of the leaves of a backgammon board.
b. tables Obsolete The game of backgammon.
4. A plateau or tableland.
5.
a. A flat facet cut across the top of a precious stone.
b. A stone or gem cut in this fashion.
6. Music
a. The front part of the body of a stringed instrument.
b. The sounding board of a harp.
7. Architecture A raised horizontal surface or continuous band on an exterior wall; a stringcourse.
8. A part of the human palm framed by four lines, analyzed in palmistry.
9. An orderly arrangement of data, especially one in which the data are arranged in columns and rows in an essentially rectangular form.
10. An abbreviated list, as of contents; a synopsis.
11. An engraved slab or tablet bearing an inscription or device.
12. Anatomy The inner or outer flat layer of bones of the skull separated by the diploe.
13. tables A system of laws or decrees; a code: the tables of Moses.
tr.v. ta·bled, ta·bling, ta·bles
1. To put or place on a table.
2. To postpone consideration of (a piece of legislation, for example); shelve.
3. To enter in a list or table; tabulate.
Idioms:
on the table
1. Up for discussion: Her new offer is on the table.
2. Put aside for consideration at a later date.
under the table
1. In secret.
2. Into a completely intoxicated state: drank themselves under the table.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin tabula, board.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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