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set the table

Idioms

Also, lay the table. Arrange a cloth, plates, glasses, silverware and the like for a meal, as in Please set the table for eight tonight. [Late 1300s]

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.

See Examples For:

set the table

Trump has described the summit, which is due to start at 20:00 BST, as a "feel-out meeting" and said his goal is to "set the table" for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025

My job is to get on base, set the table for Shohei and the guys behind him.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2025

Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, Hegseth’s hand-holder for the four-hour interrogation, set the table for him with his opening question.

From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2025

“Dune: Prophecy,” a prequel based on Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s “Great Schools of Dune” trilogy, has about six hours to set the table and whet our appetite.

From Salon ● Nov. 17, 2024

I put away the tray and set the table instead.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023