tray

¹

[ trey ]

noun

1. a flat, shallow container or receptacle made of wood, metal, etc., usually with slightly raised edges, used for carrying, holding, or displaying articles of food, glass, china, etc.
2. a removable receptacle of this shape in a cabinet, box, trunk, or the like, sometimes forming a drawer.
3. a tray and its contents:

   to order a breakfast tray from room service.

tray

²

[ trey ]

noun

, Australian Slang.

1. a coin worth threepence.

tray

/ treɪ /

noun

1. a thin flat board or plate of metal, plastic, etc, usually with a raised edge, on which things can be carried
2. a shallow receptacle for papers, etc, sometimes forming a drawer in a cabinet or box

Word History and Origins

Origin of tray¹

before 1050; Middle English; Old English trēg, trīg; cognate with Old Swedish trö corn measure; akin to tree

Origin of tray²

1895–1900; compare earlier argot trey, tray three, a set of three, probably ultimately < Italian tre (< Latin trēs three ); trey

Word History and Origins

Origin of tray¹

Old English trieg ; related to Old Swedish trö corn measure, Old Norse treyja carrier, Greek driti tub, German Trog trough

Example Sentences

Inkjet printers also tend to print more slowly, be louder, and hold less paper in their trays than lasers.

From Popular-Science

Metal trays designed for surgical instruments double as bedside tables.

From Washington Post

A bigger issue is that rural hospitals are often small with few employees, but Pfizer sends its packages in trays with 975 doses.

From Popular-Science

Perhaps you can suggest that until your husband can display good manners, you will be dining elsewhere — even if that means in the bedroom with a tray.

From Washington Post

Rather than needing to be watered, the plants actually sit in grow trays with their roots extending into shallow troughs of nutrient-rich water.

From Singularity Hub 

Disturbed by these suppositions and deciding not to tell my wife, I made the tea and took the tray to the bedroom.

From The Daily Beast

A doorman at the Ritz-Carlton took to serving him carrots on a silver tray.

From The Daily Beast

At another mortuary, “a very stout matron” has frozen to the metal refrigerator tray and must be chipped from it.

From The Daily Beast

Willie signals to the stewardess that he needs some help with his tray.

From The Daily Beast

The dragon, now dangling by a claw from the edge of the sand tray, is on the cusp of defeat.

From The Daily Beast

It is only necessary to have a zinc, or a galvanized tray on which to stand the glass in an inverted position.

From Project Gutenberg

Broken crocks should be strewn upon the tray, and on to this is heaped peaty soil mixed with sand.

From Project Gutenberg

A light-colored mulatto boy, in dress coat and bearing a diminutive silver tray for the reception of cards, admitted them.

From Project Gutenberg

The air was heavy with the perfume of frankincense which smouldered in a brass vessel set upon a tray.

From Project Gutenberg

The boy retired and returned after a moment, bringing the tiny silver tray, which was covered with ladies' visiting cards.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• plate