What does "nightstand" mean?

A small table or cabinet, often with one or more drawers or shelves, placed beside the head of a bed.

What is a synonym for "nightstand"?

Common synonyms include: bedside table, bedside table, night table, night table.

noun

noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A small table or cabinet, often with one or more drawers or shelves, placed beside the head of a bed. US
"He always kept a full glass of water on the nightstand."

"Tom turned off the lamp on the nightstand."

From night (“the conventional time for a person to be in bed”) + stand (“an object which supports things”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.