doily
Americannoun
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doilies
plural
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any small, ornamental mat, as of embroidery or lace.
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Archaic. a small napkin, as one used during a dessert course.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of doily
First recorded in 1670–80; named after a London draper of the late 17th century
Explanation
A doily is a decorative piece of cloth or paper that's used on a fancy table, often under a bowl. If your mom's birthday breakfast spread doesn't look festive enough, you can dress it up with some doilies. Some doilies are made of lace, while paper doilies are patterned and cut to resemble lace. You might see a doily underneath a cake, or separating a cup of fruit from the saucer beneath it. The word doily comes from Doiley, the last name of a well-known London dry goods dealer in the 17th century. Originally, the word was an adjective describing suits or fabric, and later, from doily-napkin came the doily we know today.
Vocabulary lists containing doily
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The Red Pyramid
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On a lace vintage doily, Simpson embroidered the Japanese proverb “Fall seven times, stand up eight,” a fitting metaphor for her metamorphosis as an artist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025
Kaur's exhibition includes family photos, an Axminster carpet, a vintage car covered in a giant doily and kinetic handbells.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2024
But there’s nothing old-fashioned about a few heartfelt lines written out on a piece of paper — doily optional.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2020
When the novel begins, in nineteen-sixties England, she is a young homemaker with the personality of a lace doily: decorous, brittle, self-consciously antiquated.
From The New Yorker ● May 11, 2019
We make a huge Valentine’s Day postbox out of a cardboard box covered with pink crepe paper and red hearts with paper doily edging.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
While live on the show, James produced "two little doilies", which he took as keepsakes from the day.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
She filled the place with antiques and doilies and Victorian-era wedding photos — some of which she bought on EBay — with unsmiling brides and grooms.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2023
It is doilies, snails, and DIY fairy spoons crafted from seashells.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2022
On that day, there happened to be plenty of doilies.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2022
Fresh red tulips in crystal vases sit on white lace doilies on each table.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
