draw the cloth

draw the cloth (third-person singular simple present draws the cloth, present participle drawing the cloth, simple past drew the cloth, past participle drawn the cloth)

1. (archaic) To clear the table after a meal.
   • 1855, Susanna Moodie, Geoffrey Moncton, page 327:

     The silence of our meal was alone broken by the dull clattering of knives and forks, and the tinkling of the bell to summon the brisk waiter to bring wine and draw the cloth.

   • 1996, Patrick O'Brian, The Yellow Admiral, page 174:

     At last, when the cloth had been drawn and the King's health drunk in a glass of port suited to a very young head, they took their coffee and ratafia biscuits (the sea-going equivalent of petits fours) in the great cabin.

• clear the table
• unset the table

• set the table
• lay the table