mantelpiece
Britishnoun
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Also called: mantel shelf. chimneypiece. a shelf above a fireplace often forming part of the mantel
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another word for mantel
Explanation
A mantelpiece is a frame around a fireplace, or a shelf above it. When families celebrate Christmas, they often hang stockings from the mantelpiece on Christmas Eve. If you have a fireplace, you probably have a mantelpiece, or a mantel. While some mantelpieces are elaborate and decorative, made of heavy stone like granite or marble, and sometimes extending far up the wall above the fireplace. Others are very simple, made of a plain wooden shelf. The original, medieval mantelpieces were hoods that caught smoke from the fire.
Vocabulary lists containing mantelpiece
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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.
The density of the ornament is matched only by its cheapness, with chalices lined up on the mantelpiece like the decorator raided the trophy case of a middle-school gymnasium.
From Slate • Aug. 5, 2025
The clock on the mantelpiece in the Cabinet Room ticks surprisingly loudly, marking every half-second.
From BBC • Sep. 14, 2024
This product is about 4 inches long, with a string for hanging from your rearview mirror or mantelpiece.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2023
Pictures of Kody, his older brother and their grandfather — all in their Navy uniforms — rest on the mantelpiece next to the folded flag from Kody’s funeral.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 30, 2023
Above her mantelpiece was a meadow full of sheep.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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.
