n.1 an iron tripod or bracket for a cooking pot or kettle to stand on.
2 an iron bracket designed to hook on to bars of a grate for a similar purpose.
Phrases and idioms:
as right as a trivet colloq. in a perfectly good state, esp. healthy. trivet table a table with three feet.
Etymology: ME trevet, app. f. L tripes (as TRI-, pes pedis foot)