doily

plural doilies · alternative doyley · alternative doiley

1. A small ornamental piece of lace or linen or paper used to protect a surface from scratches by hard objects such as vases or bowls; or to decorate a plate of food.

   Beg pardon, I'm soiling the doileys / With afternoon tea-cakes and scones.

   1956, John Betjeman, “How to Get On in Society”, in Nancy Mitford, editor, Noblesse Oblige, page 159

   2 more examples

   She looked polite, and observed the oiled floors, hard-wood staircase, unused fireplace with tiles which resembled brown linoleum, cut-glass vases standing upon doilies, and the barred, shut, forbidding unit bookcases that were half filled with swashbuckler novels and unread-looking sets of Dickens, Kipling, O. Henry, and Elbert Hubbard.

   1920, Sinclair Lewis, Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, →OCLC

   Ex-Dad was mopping his forehead with a doily from someone's grandmother's house (or a very expensive handkerchief; the kind fancy people in pirate movies always swish around).

   2017, James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, Pottymouth and Stoopid, page 261

2. JudaismA similar circular piece of lace worn as a head-covering by some married Jewish women.
3. obsoleteAn old variety of woollen material.