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

Place one seed per divot in the tray by hand or with a seeder. —Sj McShane, Martha Stewart, 12 Apr. 2026

On a kitchen island, a small tray can display decor while organizing clutter. —Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Apr. 2026

An oven's crumb tray should be removed regularly and cleared of all debris. —Ashley Chalmers, The Spruce, 12 Apr. 2026

Indeed, the fax Welsh grabbed off the tray announced that after studying hundreds of thousands of letters of code, two scientists, Francis Collins and Lap-Chee Tsui, and their teams discovered three missing letters in the DNA of patients with CF. —Courtney Crowder, USA Today, 10 Apr. 2026

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