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tray

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A small, usually rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

tray
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtɹeɪ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. by extension

    The items on a full tray.

  2. A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried.

  3. A component of a device into which an item is placed for use in the device's operations.

  4. A diminutive of the female given name Tracy.

  5. A playing card or die with the rank of three.

  6. Australia

    The platform of a truck that supports the load to be hauled.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To slide down a snow-covered hill on a tray from a cafeteria.

  2. transitive

    To place (items) on a tray

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

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More ways to use tray

  • “She carried a tray of drinks from the kitchen to the living room.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

tea traysystem traybaking traysilver traybreakfast trayash traylarge traymetal tray

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • tray clothnounCompound term

    Table linen consisting of a small cloth for a tray.

  • baking traynounCompound term

    A cooking utensil consisting of a flat rectangular metal sheet used for baking cookies or biscuits.

  • cafeteria traynounCompound term

    A tray for carrying your food in a cafeteria.

  • cheese traynounCompound term

    Tray on which cheeses are served.

  • in-traynounCompound term

    A wood or metal receptacle placed on your desk to hold your incoming material.

  • alms traynounCompound term

    A tray for collecting the offering from a congregation.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.