tabletop

American  

[tey-buhl-top] / ˈteɪ bəlˌtɒp /

noun

tabletops plural

1. a surface forming or suggesting the top of a table.

2. a photograph of an arrangement of objects on top of a table.

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adjective

1. intended for use on the top of a table or the like.

2. noting or relating to an arrangement of objects, especially miniatures or models, as would be appropriate to the top of a table.

3. noting or relating to a type of game that requires the physical presence of players and the manipulation of game pieces, in contrast to video games.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tabletops
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tabletop

First recorded in 1800–10; table + top ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tabletop tabletops

In 1946, the wildly prolific Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős asked, in essence, how to place dots on a tabletop so that the greatest number of pairs of dots are the same distance apart.

From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026

Writing in Nature, the team reports the first integrated ultrafast laser capable of matching the performance of traditional tabletop femtosecond lasers.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026

Hasbro attributed the higher revenue in part to continued strength in tabletop game Magic: The Gathering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

“There’s this huge national pride going that has never really stopped,” says Matthew W. Sivils, a professor of English at Iowa State University who has studied Travellers and owns more than 800 tabletop games himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026

Keeping my head down, I ran my finger over the initials Georgie had carved into the tabletop.

From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn

Your television itself may be obsolete, replaced by wraparound digital glasses or interactive tabletops that transform how you watch the Super Bowl, the World Cup or Wimbledon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

She also piles fresh lemons on tabletops, a tip from a friend who suggested it as a way of adding color.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023

The flat features shelves filled with books, tabletops brimming with family snapshots and paintings by Mexican artists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

They are squared slabs of stone—of slate? of granite?—about the size of small tabletops.

From National Geographic ● Apr. 21, 2023

Magdalys noticed newspapers scattered around on the tabletops and a bookshelf along one wall, overflowing with hardcover novels.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older