flatware

/ˌflætˈwɛər/

/ˈflætwɛ/

The word flatware refers to the implements you use for eating or serving food. When you set the table with spoons, forks, and knives, you grab the flatware from the drawer.

You can also call flatware silverware or cutlery. Sometimes the word means everything you'd use to set the table, including dishes and plates, which is actually its original definition, dating from around 1850. Back then, you might refer to your plates as flatware and call your glasses hollow ware. Today, if your grandpa asks you to bring the flatware to the table, he probably means forks and spoons.

Definitions of flatware

1. noun

   silverware eating utensils
   synonyms: silver

   type of:

   silverware

   tableware made of silver or silver plate or pewter or stainless steel
2. noun

   tableware that is relatively flat and fashioned as a single piece
   types:

   plate

   dish on which food is served or from which food is eaten

   platter

   a large shallow dish used for serving food

   saucer

   a small shallow dish for holding a cup at the table

   dessert plate

   a small plate on which dessert can be served

   dinner plate

   a plate from which a diner eats during the main course of a meal

   paper plate

   a disposable plate made of cardboard

   salad bowl, salad plate

   a plate or bowl for individual servings of salad

   soup plate

   a deep plate with a wide rim

   steel plate

   a plate of steel

   type of:

   tableware

   articles for use at the table (dishes and silverware and glassware)