a stand having sections for holding magazines, sheet music, or loose papers.
a supper tray with partitions for cutlery and plates.
a city in E Kent, in SE England: cathedral; early ecclesiastical center of England.
a municipality in E New South Wales, in SE Australia: a part of Sydney.
Latin name: Durovernum. a city in SE England, in E Kent: starting point for St Augustine's mission to England (597 ad ); cathedral where St Thomas à Becket was martyred (1170); seat of the archbishop and primate of England; seat of the University of Kent (1965). Pop: 43 552 (2001)
a regional council area of New Zealand, on E central South Island on Canterbury Bight : mountainous with coastal lowlands; agricultural. Chief town: Christchurch. Pop: 520 500 (2004 est). Area: 43 371 sq km (16 742 sq miles)
a late 18th-century low wooden stand with partitions for holding cutlery and plates: often mounted on casters
a similar 19th-century stand used for holding sheet music, music books, or magazines
1840–50; after Canterbury, England
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“This year, the flowers that are blooming include canterbury and school bells, arroyo lupine, and California poppy,” the parks department said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
Yet his finest work was full of ironical laughter; a "canterbury tale," in medieval slang, was a lie.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mrs. Gould: I wish simply to say that the trouble with winter grown hollyhocks and canterbury bells is that they will head so tall and must be kept dry.
"That is a great clue, considering there are about a score covers here of rival dinginess," said Stephen, drawing out the canterbury.
From The Mill on the Floss by Eliot, George
Beds of tiger lilies, pinks, larkspur, sweetwilliams, canterbury bells, primroses, gillyflowers, lobelia, bloomed in a luxuriance that the methodical box which bordered them could not restrain.
From The Bay State Monthly — Volume 2, No. 3, December, 1884 by Various
It will be spent on projects on the River Stour, with Kent the home to England's largest population of wild beavers, and ancient woodland at the Blean, near Canterbury.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
The origins of the tapestry remain shrouded in mystery, with many scholars believing it was made by artisans in or around Canterbury in southern England.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally apologised for the "pain, trauma and stigma" caused to those affected, saying there was deep shame it had happened to people "in the care of Christian communities".
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
The study involved paleontologists from Flinders University and Canterbury Museum, as well as volcanologists Joel Baker of the University of Auckland and Simon Barker of Victoria University of Wellington.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026
I didn’t care about Canterbury, or whatever Grovener was yapping about.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
