Cutlery Vocabulary: List of Knives, Forks, Spoons & Examples

Cutlery is the everyday set of tools used for eating and serving food at the table. People also call it silverware or flatware. Below is a clear cutlery list with pictures and short, simple examples.

Cutlery Vocabulary

Cutlery vocabulary poster showing common knives forks spoons chopsticks and salad servers

Cutlery is defined as all kitchen utensils used at the table for eating and serving food.

Cutlery Set

Knives

  • Knife
  • Fish knife
  • Steak knife
  • Butter knife

Forks

  • Fork
  • Fish fork
  • Salad fork

Spoons

  • Soup spoon
  • Teaspoon
  • Tablespoon
  • Dessert spoon
  • Demitasse spoon
  • Sundae spoon

Serving & Other

  • Salad servers
  • Chopsticks

Common Cutlery Items

  • Fork – used to hold food and bring it to your mouth
  • Knife – used to cut food into smaller pieces
  • Spoon – used to eat soup, dessert, and soft foods, or to stir drinks

Names of Cutlery | Examples & Photos

Salad servers

Salad servers are used to mix and serve salad.

Salad servers set used to mix and serve salad

Knife

She picked up her knife and fork and started to eat.

Table knife used to cut food during a meal

Fish knife

A fish knife helps you cut fish without breaking the bones.

Fish knife designed for cutting fish without crushing bones

Steak knife

Use a steak knife to cut a piece of steak or meat.

Steak knife with sharp edge used to cut steak and meat

Butter knife

Use a butter knife to spread butter on bread.

Butter knife with blunt edge used for spreading butter or jam

Fork

She ate the salad with a fork.

Dinner fork used to pick up food while eating

Fish fork

A fish fork is used to eat fish and lift small pieces carefully.

Fish fork used for eating fish and separating small pieces

Salad fork

A salad fork is smaller than a dinner fork.

Salad fork smaller fork used for eating salad

Dessert spoon

Use a dessert spoon to eat cake, pudding, or ice cream.

Dessert spoon used for eating dessert like pudding or ice cream

Soup spoon

Use a soup spoon to eat soup.

Soup spoon with round bowl used for eating soup

Teaspoon

Stir your tea with a teaspoon.

Teaspoon used for stirring tea or coffee and eating small desserts

Tablespoon

A tablespoon is larger than a teaspoon.

Tablespoon larger spoon used for serving or eating larger bites

Demitasse spoon

A demitasse spoon is a very small spoon for espresso or strong coffee.

Demitasse spoon small spoon used with espresso or demitasse coffee

Sundae spoon

Use a sundae spoon to eat ice cream in a tall glass.

Sundae spoon long-handled spoon used for ice cream sundaes

Chopsticks

Many people use chopsticks to eat noodles and rice.

Chopsticks pair used to pick up food like noodles sushi or rice

Last Updated on February 11, 2026

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