MANTLEPIECE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mantlepiece mean? 

• MANTLEPIECE (noun)
  The noun MANTLEPIECE has 1 sense:

1. shelf that projects from wall above fireplace

  Familiarity information: MANTLEPIECE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MANTLEPIECE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Shelf that projects from wall above fireplace

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

chimneypiece; mantel; mantelpiece; mantle; mantlepiece

Hypernyms ("mantlepiece" is a kind of...):

shelf (a support that consists of a horizontal surface for holding objects)

Holonyms ("mantlepiece" is a part of...):

fireplace; hearth; open fireplace (an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built)

 Context examples 

It took his fancy immensely, and he put it on his mantlepiece as an article of virtue, so it was rather a failure after all.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Books and papers everywhere, a broken meerschaum, and an old flute over the mantlepiece as if done with, a ragged bird without any tail chirped on one window seat, and a box of white mice adorned the other.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

If she only had a servant or two it would be all right, said Amy, coming out of the parlor, where she had been trying to decide whether the bronze Mercury looked best on the whatnot or the mantlepiece.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)