Mistress of a fairer table Hath not history for
fable. --B. Jonson.
5. An article of furniture, consisting of a flat slab, board,
or the like, having a smooth surface, fixed horizontally
on legs, and used for a great variety of purposes, as in
eating, writing, or working.
We may again Give to our tables meat. --Shak.
The nymph the table spread. --Pope.
6. Hence, food placed on a table to be partaken of; fare;
entertainment; as, to set a good table.
7. The company assembled round a table.
I drink the general joy of the whole table. --Shak.
8. (Anat.) One of the two, external and internal, layers of
compact bone, separated by diplo["e], in the walls of the
cranium.
9. (Arch.) A stringcourse which includes an offset; esp., a
band of stone, or the like, set where an offset is
required, so as to make it decorative. See {Water table}.
10. (Games)
(a) The board on the opposite sides of which backgammon
and draughts are played.
(b) One of the divisions of a backgammon board; as, to
play into the right-hand table.
(c) pl. The games of backgammon and of draughts. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.
This is the ape of form, monsieur the nice,
That, when he plays at tables, chides the dice.
--Shak.
11. (Glass Manuf.) A circular plate of crown glass.
A circular plate or table of about five feet
diameter weighs on an average nine pounds. --Ure.
12. (Jewelry) The upper flat surface of a diamond or other
precious stone, the sides of which are cut in angles.
13. (Persp.) A plane surface, supposed to be transparent and
perpendicular to the horizon; -- called also {perspective
plane}.
14. (Mach.) The part of a machine tool on which the work
rests and is fastened.
{Bench table}, {Card table}, {Communion table}, {Lord's
table}, etc. See under {Bench}, {Card}, etc.
{Raised table} (Arch. & Sculp.), a raised or projecting
member of a flat surface, large in proportion to the
projection, and usually rectangular, -- especially
intended to receive an inscription or the like.
{Roller table} (Horology), a flat disk on the arbor of the
balance of a watch, holding the jewel which rolls in and
out of the fork at the end of the lever of the escapement.
{Round table}. See Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
{Table anvil}, a small anvil to be fastened to a table for
use in making slight repairs.
{Table base}. (Arch.) Same as {Water table}.
{Table bed}, a bed in the form of a table.
{Table beer}, beer for table, or for common use; small beer.
{Table bell}, a small bell to be used at table for calling
servants.
{Table cover}, a cloth for covering a table, especially at
other than mealtimes.
{Table diamond}, a thin diamond cut with a flat upper
surface.
{Table linen}, linen tablecloth, napkins, and the like.
{Table money} (Mil. or Naut.), an allowance sometimes made to
officers over and above their pay, for table expenses.
{Table rent} (O. Eng. Law), rent paid to a bishop or
religious, reserved or appropriated to his table or
housekeeping. --Burrill.
{Table shore} (Naut.), a low, level shore.
{Table talk}, conversation at table, or at meals.
{Table talker}, one who talks at table.
{Table tipping}, {Table turning}, certain movements of
tables, etc., attributed by some to the agency of departed
spirits, and by others to the development of latent vital
or spriritual forces, but more commonly ascribed to the
muscular force of persons in connection with the objects
moved, or to physical force applied otherwise.
{Tables of a girder} or {chord} (Engin.), the upper and lower
horizontal members.
{To lay on the table}, in parliamentary usage, to lay, as a
report, motion, etc., on the table of the presiding
officer, -- that is, to postpone the consideration of, by
a vote.
{To serve tables} (Script.), to provide for the poor, or to
distribute provisions for their wants. --Acts vi. 2.
{To turn the tables}, to change the condition or fortune of
contending parties; -- a metaphorical expression taken
from the vicissitudes of fortune in gaming.
{Twelve tables} (Rom. Antiq.), a celebrated body of Roman
laws, framed by decemvirs appointed 450 years before
Christ, on the return of deputies or commissioners who had
been sent to Greece to examine into foreign laws and
institutions. They consisted partly of laws transcribed
from the institutions of other nations, partly of such as
were altered and accommodated to the manners of the
Romans, partly of new provisions, and mainly, perhaps, of
laws and usages under their ancient kings. --Burrill.
When Jubal struck the chorded shell. --Dryden.
Even the solitary old pine tree chords his harp.
--Beecher.
2. (Mus.) A combination of tones simultaneously performed,
producing more or less perfect harmony, as, the common
chord.
3. (Geom.) A right line uniting the extremities of the arc of
a circle or curve.
4. (Anat.) A cord. See {Cord}, n., 4.
5. (Engin.) The upper or lower part of a truss, usually
horizontal, resisting compression or tension. --Waddell.
{Accidental, Common, & Vocal} {chords}. See under
{Accidental}, {Common}, and {Vocal}.
{Chord of an arch}. See Illust. of {Arch}.
{Chord of curvature}, a chord drawn from any point of a
curve, in the circle of curvature for that point.
{Scale of chords}. See {Scale}.