tea tray

American  

noun

1. a tray for carrying or holding articles used in serving tea.

---

Etymology

Origin of tea tray

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

For he discovered skeleton, or as he describes it hurtling down the ice-covered track head first on a "very expensive tea tray."

From Barron's • Feb. 14, 2026

But let's step away from the afternoon tea tray, and instead, imagine something more like Moroccan pastilla, the pigeon or rabbit filo pie studded with almonds, scented with cinnamon, and dusted with powdered sugar.

From Salon • Dec. 11, 2021

Dream movie moment: Cora, who sometimes seems a few scones short of a tea tray, wises up and leaves fuddy-duddy Robert for a dashing London financier played by Hugh Grant.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 10, 2019

Just to drive the point home, she says things  like "Your lot's finished. You're going down and we're coming up," while helping herself to one of the biscuits on Mary's tea tray.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2016

Bree brings out the tea tray, and she takes a cup.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton