What does "tray" mean?
A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried.
Tray
/tɹeɪ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried.
- Grammar: tray is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: container, dish, folding table, inbox.
- Useful contrasts: bowls, chalice, kazan.
- Usage evidence: On the tray are five objects - three of them are keys.
How to use "tray"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tray" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tray" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tray" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tray" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tray" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "container" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tray", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried.
"I carefully arranged the dishes on the tray and brought it upstairs."
- 2 trouble; annoyance; anger obsolete
- 3 Alternative form of trey (“third branch of deer's antler”). alt-of, alternative
- 4 A gay trans person, particularly a man (a man who is both transgender and gay)
- 5 an open receptacle for holding or displaying or serving articles or food wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 The items on a full tray. broadly
"Before long they had consumed a whole tray of shrimp cocktails and sent for another."
- 7 A component of a device into which an item is placed for use in the device's operations.
"The CD tray will not open."
- 8 A notification area used for icons and alerts. informal
"[…]some developers try to use it that way for some reason (some applications inexplicably minimize to the tray rather than to the taskbar as they should)."
- 9 A type of retail or wholesale packaging for CPUs where the processors are sold in bulk and/or with minimal packaging.
- 10 The platform of a truck that supports the load to be hauled. Australia
Verb
- 1 to place (items) on a tray transitive
"Be sure to tray eggs with the large end up."
- 2 to grieve; to annoy obsolete, transitive
- 3 to betray obsolete, transitive
- 4 to slide down a snow-covered hill on a tray from a cafeteria. intransitive
"Traying has provided collegiate fun and the occasional fatality for decades."
Proper Noun
- 1 A diminutive of the female given name Tracy.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"On the tray are five objects - three of them are keys."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tray"?
Common synonyms include: container, dish, folding table, inbox, platter, receptacle.
How do you use "tray" in a sentence?
On the tray are five objects - three of them are keys.
How do you pronounce "tray"?
Pronounced /tɹeɪ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English trey, from Old English trēġ, trīġ (“wooden board, tray”), from Proto-West Germanic *trauwi, from Proto-Germanic *trawją (“wooden vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *drewo-, *dóru (“tree; wood”). Cognate with Old Norse treyja (“carrier”), Old Swedish trø (“wooden grain measure”), Low German Treechel (“dough trough”), Ancient Greek δροίτη (droítē, “tub, vat”), Sanskrit द्रोण (droṇa, “trough”). Related to trough and tree.
Etymology 2
From Middle English traye, treie, from Old English trega (“misfortune, misery, trouble, grief, pain”), from Proto-Germanic *tregô (“mourning”), from Proto-Indo-European *dregʰ- (“unwilling, sullen, slack”). Cognate with Icelandic tregi (“sorrow, grief”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐍉 (trigō, “grief”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English trayen, treien, from Old English tregian (“to trouble, harass, vex”), from Proto-West Germanic *tregōn, from Proto-Germanic *tregōną (“to become tedious, become lazy, sadden”), from Proto-Indo-European *dregʰ- (“unwilling, sullen, slack”).
Etymology 4
From Middle English trayen, from Old French trair (“to betray”), from Latin tradō (“hand over, betray”).
Etymology 5
Blend of trans + gay.