saltcellar

American  

[sawlt-sel-er] / ˈsɔltˌsɛl ər /

noun

1. a shaker or dish for salt.

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saltcellar British  

/ ˈsɔːltˌsɛlə /

noun

1. a small container for salt used at the table

2. informal  either of the two hollows formed above the collarbones of very slim people

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Etymology

Origin of saltcellar

1400–50; salt ¹ + cellar, for earlier saler saltcellar, late Middle English < Old French saliere < Latin salāria, noun use of feminine of salārius (adj.) pertaining to salt, equivalent to sal salt ¹ + -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

She went back inside and returned a few minutes later carrying a saltcellar.

From Literature

A building that resembled an overgrown saltcellar lay ahead of us.

From Literature

Nivea would pull Clara’s braids and that would be enough to wake her daughter from her mad distraction and return the saltcellar to immobility.

From Literature

On the dining table, there is a pepper mill, a saltcellar, bright, clear-skinned clementines arranged in a bowl.

From Literature

Ulenspiegel answered: “When the saltcellar, as in our house, is made of a hollow piece of bread, it must be eaten now and then, lest the worms might come in it as it gets old.”

From Project Gutenberg