saltcellar
Americannoun
noun
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a small container for salt used at the table
-
informal either of the two hollows formed above the collarbones of very slim people
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Benin bronzes, Congolese woods, and a magnificent Afro-Portuguese ivory saltcellar are. among the 130 works of African sculpture from the superb collection of Jay C. Leff.
From Time Magazine Archive
"He can be directing a complicated scene with actors and be able to pay attention not only to its meaning but to whether a saltcellar on the table is out of position."
From Time Magazine Archive
As late as the 18th century, the rank of guests at a banquet was gauged by where they sat in relation to an often elaborate silver saltcellar on the table.
From Time Magazine Archive
At meals he propped a book against the saltcellar, read gloomily.
From Time Magazine Archive
She went back inside and returned a few minutes later carrying a saltcellar.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
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.
