place mat
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of place mat
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
“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
Find the length and width of the place mat.
From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020
He was skinny sick, and so small he could fit on a place mat.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2019
First the place mat, then a loose thread on his shirt.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
