Drop-leaf table

{{Short description|Type of folding furniture}}

{{More citations needed|date=September 2022}}

File:Oval Drop-Leaf Dining Table with Ball-and Claw Feet LACMA M.2006.51.9.jpg, built 1765–1785, and in the Decorative Arts and Design collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art ]]

A drop-leaf table is a table that has a fixed section in the center and a hinged section (leaf) on either side that can be folded down (dropped). If the leaf is supported by a bracket when folded up, the table is simply a drop-leaf table; if the leaf is supported by legs that swing out from the center, it is known as a gateleg table. Depending on the style of drop-leaf or gateleg tables, the leaves vary from coming almost down to the floor to only coming down slightly.

The usual purpose of a drop-leaf table is to save space when the table is not in use. Typical examples of drop-leaf tables are: dining tables, night stands, side tables, coffee tables, and desks.

Drop-leaf tables were found mostly in England where they date back to the late sixteenth century; Elizabethan era and Jacobean era examples are still extant.{{Cite web|url=http://www.furniturestyles.net/european/english/elizabethan-tables.html|title=Elizabethan Antique Refectory Drop Leaf Tables|website=www.furniturestyles.net|access-date=2007-07-08|archive-date=2007-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225329/http://www.furniturestyles.net/european/english/elizabethan-tables.html|url-status=live}}