mantelpiece

noun

man·​tel·​piece ˈman-tᵊl-ˌpēs How to pronounce mantelpiece (audio)
1
: a mantel with its side elements
2

Examples of mantelpiece in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Billie Eilish should make some room on her mantelpiece. Clayton Davis, Variety, 8 Jan. 2024 Each showed a single woman seated on a simple chair and leaning against the mantelpiece around a fireplace. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2023 By her death in 1942, Beaux’s thick, buttery style was as out of place as a 14th-century French mantelpiece in a 1911 Arts & Crafts building. Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 27 Oct. 2023 There is a blue plaque on the mantelpiece commemorating Lydon, and is the only evidence of the musician living here. Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2023 Hundred-year-old marble mantelpieces weren’t then a consensus taste. Jonathan Lethem, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023 The mechanism was held in a wooden case, a bit like a clock that might go on the mantelpiece. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 June 2023 Shaw died in his English country house in 1950 with a signed photograph of Stalin on his mantelpiece. M. D. Aeschliman, National Review, 5 Dec. 2020 Hawn, Nicholson, Hoffman and Voight would all have at least one Oscar on their mantelpiece by the time the ’80s dawned and were now as much a part of the Hollywood elite as Wayne and Hope were on that April evening. Brent Lang, Variety, 8 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mantelpiece.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mantelpiece was in 1660

Dictionary Entries Near mantelpiece

Cite this Entry

“Mantelpiece.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mantelpiece. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mantelpiece

noun
man·​tel·​piece -ˌpēs How to pronounce mantelpiece (audio)
1
: a mantel with its side elements
2
: the shelf of a mantel

More from Merriam-Webster on mantelpiece

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