table servicen.

1593 W. Rainolds Treat. Holy Sacrifice & Sacrament 277 Such cause maketh perhaps quicke dispatch of the table service in the church; the sacrament of Christ leeseth not his holynes sooner or later vpon any such occasion.

1778 in Serm. & Pract. Wks. Ralph Erskine VIII. Contents. p. ix The table service.

1823 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1850) II. xv. 395 She allowed me..to continue the table-service in the way I had found to be most convenient.

1863 J. M. Wilson Presbyterian Hist. Almanac V. 403 His last preaching in New Alexandria was a table service, intended as a dying testimony.

c1900 A. Ross in C. H. H. Scobie & G. A. Rawlyk Contrib. Presbyterianism to Maritime Provinces Canada (1997) vii. 109 [Various Kirk Sessions agreed to enlarge table accommodation so that] One Table Service [would often suffice].

2000 C. D. Cashdollar Spiritual Home iii. 228 Renovation projects could also be generated by a change in liturgical practice such as an end to table service for communion.

1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron I. ii. x. f. 77^v The master of the houshold was called, to giue him order for that euenings Table seruice.

1846 C. G. F. Gore Sketches Eng. Char. I. 218 Such a butler was necessarily the head of a peaceable and well governed house-hold... In table-service his attendance was impartial.

1897 L. M. Salmon Domestic Service xiii. 224 Many college students in cities partially pay their expenses by table service.

1922 Negro in Chicago vi. 316 There is a restaurant..which a few years ago was a very good one, with regular table service, excellent food, and all the rest. Last year it changed into a sort of cafeteria... You get your knife and fork, go to the serving counter, and a man gives you on a plate whatever you order.

1928 J. K. Folsom Culture & Social Progress ix. 220 To be fussy about the finer details of table service is considered a sign of good breeding.

1980 Times 4 Aug. 14/4 There are two sections, self-service and table service.

2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 Sept. e11/6 Meals must be served within prescribed time limits, depending on whether the restaurant offers table service or counter service.

1664 F. Philipps Mistaken Recompence 52 Many of the richer sort of Citizens, Merchants, and Retaylors, do take themselves to be disparaged & the Sons of contempt, if they have not half; and others almost all their Table-service in Silver Plate.

1765 J. Wedgwood Let. 25 July in Sel. Lett. (1965) 36 Your Brother Josiah's Pottworks were the subject of conversation for some time, the Cream colour Table services in particular.

1782 Invoice 26 Oct. in Neustra Senhora des Carmes: App. to Appellant’s Case (Lords Commissioners of Appeals in Prize Causes) (?1788) 22 Four Table Services, Partridge Eye, comprizing ea. 13 napkins & a Table-cloth.

1829 S. Shaw Hist. Staffs. Potteries ix. 212 In 1780, he completed the first Blue Printed Table Service made in England.

1896 Daily News 6 Apr. 2/5 The President..handed to him the handsome table service which he had given to be run for.

1928 Garden & Home Builder Aug. 549/2 One manufacturer has perfected a whole table service of domestic glass in various persuasive tints.

1956 Life 2 Apr. 63/2 (advt.) The tub is designed to accommodate even odd-shaped bowls, bulky platters in addition to normal table service.

2001 S. King & G. Timmins Making Sense of Industr. Revol. v. 138 He was also prepared to manufacture uniques for overseas dignitaries, most notably a 1282-piece table service for Catherine the Great.