tablefuln.
/ˈteɪblfʊl/, U.S. /ˈteɪbəlˌfʊl/ 1. As many people as can be seated at a table; all the people sitting at a table. Frequently with of.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a company or body of persons > [noun] > at table
tablesc1325
tableful1535
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Mark vi. 39 He commaunded them all to syt down by table fulles [L. secundum contubernia] vpon the grene grass.
1593 T. Churchyard Challenge 178 There sat of guests a table full.
1622 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. VI. iii. 369 What a table full was here? The Sonne of God beset with Publicans, and sinners.
1774 A. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 35 We make a table-full at meal times.
1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table iii. 57 One man who is a little too literal can spoil the talk of a whole tableful of men of esprit.
1863 Golden Ladder 157 They, with the family and the pedlar, made a good tableful.
1897 Bucks County (Pa.) Gaz. 8 Apr. 4/5 No servant who has the slightest atom of self respect is going to stand being lectured before a tableful of people.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia v. 391 What a tableful we were at supper: two long rows of restless heads in the lamplight.
1974 E. Bowen Henry & Other Heroes i. 14 A rainy-day game..requiring each player to speak certain questions and responses in precise patterns under verbal cross fire from a tableful of opponents.
2007 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 17 Sept. e6 The value he placed on a man's ability..to command the attention of a tableful of world-class raconteurs.
2. The amount that a table can hold; all that is on a table. Frequently with of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > amount defined by capacity > [noun] > amount that fills a piece of furniture
bedful1638
pewful1641
tableful1647
pressful1698
shelf-ful1876
deskful1877
1647 S. Birckbek Cordiall for Heart-qualme ii. 47 The Prophet Elijah was fed by Ravens, and one bit from their mouth, more pleasing to him than a whole table-full of Ahab's delicate dishes.
1856 Year-bk. Agric. 25 The finished fibre is delivered on to an endless apron at the same time that the next tableful is received into the machine.
1868 H. A. Vaughan Let. 26 Dec. in Lett. to Lady Herbert (1942) 134 Mrs. Vaughan gave us tablefuls of excellent food.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. iv. xxxvi. 228 Lydgate's tableful of apparatus and specimens.
1923 Times 26 Feb. 10/4 These with a bronze snake inlaid with gold, make up a select company on this fascinating tableful.
1977 Zigzag June 15/2 He was so pleased to see me that he threw a tableful of drinks over..like in the movies!
2007 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 6 Mar. d1 He hunched over a tableful of tickets, staring at the numbers like they were pieces of a difficult Sudoku puzzle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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