finger bowl


noun
  1. a small bowl to hold water for rinsing the fingers at table.

Origin of finger bowl

1
First recorded in 1855–60

Words Nearby finger bowl

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use finger bowl in a sentence

  • A finger-bowl stood above the plate, and this was left on all through the luncheon.

    Living on a Little | Caroline French Benton
  • If fruit is the first course, there should be at each place a fruit-plate with a doily, finger-bowl, and fruit-knife on it.

    The Expert Maid-Servant | Cristine Terhune Herrick
  • Then the dessert plates, arranged with finger bowl, doily and silver are brought from the sideboard.

  • The doily beneath the finger bowl is not meant for use, but should be laid on the table beside the finger bowl.

    The Etiquette of To-day | Edith B. Ordway
  • Cleigh, sighing contentedly, dipped his fingers into the finger bowl and brushed his lips.

    The Pagan Madonna | Harold MacGrath

British Dictionary definitions for finger bowl

finger bowl

noun
  1. a small bowl filled with water for rinsing the fingers at the table after a meal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012