flatware

[flat-wair]

See more synonyms for flatware on Thesaurus.com

noun

utensils, as knives, forks, and spoons, used at the table for serving and eating food.
dishes or containers for the table that are more or less flat, as plates and saucers (distinguished from hollowware).

Origin of flatware

First recorded in 1850–55; flat¹ + ware¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for flatware

Contemporary Examples

Melanie walked past the table that had been set for two with fancy china and flatware and out to the Truman Balcony.
Meet the First Female President
Nicolle Wallace
October 17, 2010

Historical Examples

She loved the flatware—it always made her think of a wedding—sometimes of her own.
Ptomaine Street
Carolyn Wells
She reveled in the white tiles, the white gloss paint, the eternal clearing-up and the clatter of flatware.
Ptomaine Street
Carolyn Wells
He frequently decorated his flatware with a refined etching or gravure, his hollow ware with reeding.
Seaport in Virginia
Gay Montague Moore
His flatware is usually distinguished by a shell motif, and gadroon edges finish and decorate many of his pieces.
Seaport in Virginia
Gay Montague Moore
Little of this, understandably, was likely to have been thrown away or lost, except for an occasional piece of flatware.
The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia
C. Malcolm Watkins

British Dictionary definitions for flatware

flatware

noun US and Canadian

cutlery
any relatively flat tableware such as plates, saucers, etcCompare hollowware

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

Word Origin and History for flatware

n.

1851, from flat (adj.) + ware (n.). Originally as distinguished from hollow ware; U.S. sense of "domestic cutlery" recorded by 1895.

flatware

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}flatware

Examples from the Web for flatware

Contemporary Examples

Melanie walked past the table that had been set for two with fancy china and flatware and out to the Truman Balcony.

Historical Examples

She loved the flatware—it always made her think of a wedding—sometimes of her own.

She reveled in the white tiles, the white gloss paint, the eternal clearing-up and the clatter of flatware.

He frequently decorated his flatware with a refined etching or gravure, his hollow ware with reeding.

His flatware is usually distinguished by a shell motif, and gadroon edges finish and decorate many of his pieces.

Little of this, understandably, was likely to have been thrown away or lost, except for an occasional piece of flatware.

flatware

Word Origin and History for flatware

n.

Origin of flatware