tray

noun

ˈtrā 

: an open receptacle with a flat bottom and a low rim for holding, carrying, or exhibiting articles

trayful

ˈtrā-ˌfu̇l 

noun

Examples of tray in a Sentence

She carried the tray of food to our table.

a car with several storage trays

Recent Examples on the Web

Next, the reality star tries a tray of fried food, including fried zucchini and fried octopus. —Raven Brunner, People.com, 12 Mar. 2025

Order a tray of seasonal steamed oysters and Frogmore stew. bowensisland.com; 1870 Bowens Island Road, Charleston, SC 29412; 843-795-2757 5. —Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2025

Tina untied the tourniquet on Lilian’s arm and left with the tray of tubes. —Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2025

And team ownership was slammed for the second straight year on the NFLPA Players’ Report Card last week for poor facilities, food, and a team plane with ash trays but no Wi-Fi. CNBC reporter Contessa Brewer, who served as moderator, asked if AI might someday replace coaching. —Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 7 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English trīg, trēg; akin to Old Swedish trø wooden grain measure and probably to Old English trēow tree — more at tree entry 1

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing tray

• baking tray
• in tray
• litter tray
• out tray
• tea tray

Rhymes for tray

• ay
• bay
• bey
• brae
• cay
• chez
• dey
• dray
• fay
• fey
• flay
• fray

Kids Definition

tray

noun

ˈtrā 

: an open container with flat bottom and low rim for holding, carrying, or exhibiting articles

trayful

-ˌfu̇l 

noun

Medical Definition

tray

noun

ˈtrā 

: an appliance consisting of a flanged body and a handle for use in holding plastic material against the gums or teeth in making negative impressions for dentures