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finger bowl

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

First recorded in 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for finger bowl

Historical Examples

  • Judith finished dabbling her fingers in the finger-bowl, and wiped them daintily.

    Miss Pat at School

    Pemberton Ginther

  • Every morning I perch on the plate or finger-bowl and eat my orange.

  • It should be laid on the table, at the right of the finger-bowl.

    Book of Etiquette, Volume 2

    Lillian Eichler Watson

  • Archie flicked the ash from his cigarette into the finger-bowl.

  • She held it to the very last, then dropped it into her finger-bowl and rose.

    Max

    Katherine Cecil Thurston

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
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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