table-hop

American  

[tey-buhl-hop] / ˈteɪ bəlˌhɒp /

verb (used without object)

Informal.

table-hopped, table-hopping

1. to move about in a restaurant, nightclub, or the like, chatting with people at various tables.

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Other Word Forms

• table-hopper noun

Etymology

Origin of table-hop

First recorded in 1940–45; table + hop ¹

Example Sentences

August might be a slow time for some people, but never for me, as I table-hop at warp speed in advance of my annual fall dining guide.

From Washington Post

It wasn’t hard to imagine what Valerie Cherish would do in a such a situation: aggressively table-hop, whether her targets knew her or not.

From New York Times

They table-hop inquiring about friends and relatives in prison.

From New York Times

After watching him leap up from his lunch to table-hop at Newick's restaurant in Newington, N.H.,

From Time Magazine Archive

Into this "poor man's Sardi's," every noon, swarm the occupants of a thousand hall bedrooms, to eat and table-hop, jam the phone booths, swap hard-luck stories, pick up casting tips.

From Time Magazine Archive