place mat

American  

noun

place mats plural

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• place mats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of place mat

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

“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

Claver-Carone when confronted with photographs of the purported place mat “contract” during an interview this month told investigators that he had never seen the document and denied it was his handwriting or signature.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2022

And worst of all are ones that are both oily and acidic — and a sharply different color than the place mat.

From Washington Post • Jul. 18, 2021

Find the length and width of the place mat.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

So I pull out my chair, sit on it, grab my orange juice, glug it down, and thump the glass onto the place mat.

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements