place mat

American  

noun

place mats plural

1. a mat set on a dining table beneath a place setting.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• place mats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of place mat

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

place mat

“I think you need to eat something,” she said, slapping the bowl onto a place mat, and she was right.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025

So for almost two weeks straight, after we put away the third place mat on the dinner table, we ate out or ordered in, saving leftovers for lunch.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 10, 2021

There is room for bits of Shakespeare, vaudeville theatrics and road trip trivia like the paper place mat maps at Howard Johnson’s restaurants.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2021

Find the length and width of the place mat.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

I reach for my cell, at the edge of the place mat.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon