night table
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of night table
First recorded in 1780–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This happens with sufficient frequency for me to keep my cellphone on my night table so that I can search for the missing item and return to my less-than-sound sleep.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
Berman confessed he was so turned off by the photo that the book “lay on my night table for weeks” before he started reading it.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2022
"We needed an upgrade from a single box of bandaids & tube of Neosporin in my night table drawer."
From Fox News • Sep. 14, 2021
Sometimes if I was on the road and I was feeling blue, I would put the bag on my night table so I would see something familiar as I fell asleep.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 24, 2020
Papa took Sarah's bags inside, where her room was ready with a quilt on the bed and blue flax dried in a vase on the night table.
From "Sarah, Plain and Tall" by Patricia MacLachlan
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.