set the table

set the table

To place and arrange things to be used while eating a meal, such as plates, utensils, glasses, napkins, etc. Janie, would you please set the table? We'll be ready to eat shortly.

See also: set, table

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

set the table

to place plates, glasses, napkins, etc., on the table before a meal. (The opposite of clear the table.) Jane, would you please set the table? Fm tired of setting the table. Ask someone else to do it.

See also: set, table

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

set the table

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]

See also: set, table

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.