flatware

[ flat-wair ]

noun

1. utensils, as knives, forks, and spoons, used at the table for serving and eating food.
2. dishes or containers for the table that are more or less flat, as plates and saucers ( hollowware ).

flatware

/ ˈflætˌwɛə /

noun

1. cutlery
2. any relatively flat tableware such as plates, saucers, etc Compare hollowware

Word History and Origins

Origin of flatware¹

First recorded in 1850–55; flat ¹ + ware ¹

Example Sentences

She sold flatware, stemware and linens, setting the pieces out on antique furniture — marble topped butcher tables, rattan settees, Art Deco bars — which, because customers asked, she began to sell too.

From New York Times

Its website and social media are packed with tutorials for turning leftover jars into spice containers, holiday decorations and flatware holders.

From Salon

Yet if you peer beyond the bowl of bananas and crooning stereo, you would find a drawer of flatware.

From New York Times

Off Alley’s tiny Columbia City space is basically a hallway with a dozen seats down one side — the place settings are laid with mismatched antique flatware, the menu scrawled on a chalkboard.

From Seattle Times

The flea market in Moldovanka stretched away down the cobblestone streets, filled with table after table of knickknacks, Soviet army knives and silver-plated flatware.

From New York Times

Related Words

• cutlery
• tableware