saltcellar

[ sawlt-sel-er ]

/ ˈsɔltˌsɛl ər /

Save This Word!

noun

a shaker or dish for salt.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of saltcellar

1400–50; salt¹ + 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 salsalt¹ + -ārius-ary

Words nearby saltcellar

salt bath, salt-box, saltbush, salt cake, salt cedar, saltcellar, salt chuck, saltchucker, salt cod, salt dome, Salteaux

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use saltcellar in a sentence

Without uttering a word, I pick up the heavy saltcellar, and fling it violently against the French mirror.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
Saltcellar, sawlt′sel-ar, n. a small table vessel for holding salt.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
Set the saltcellar on your lords right, and trenchers on the left of it.
Early English Meals and Manners|Various
There is a saltcellar of state, so called, and there may be a castor of state.
Moby Dick; or The Whale|Herman Melville

The user was expected to sprinkle the liquid over the fire just as salt is sprinkled from a saltcellar over meat.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various

British Dictionary definitions for saltcellar

saltcellar

/ (ˈsɔːltˌsɛlə) /

noun

a small container for salt used at the table

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

Word Origin for saltcellar

changed (through influence of cellar) from C15 salt saler; saler from Old French saliere container for salt, from Latin salārius belonging to salt, from sal salt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012