From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From flat +‎ -ware.

flatware (countable and uncountable, plural flatwares)

1. (US) Eating utensils; cutlery, such as forks, knives and spoons.

   • 2003, Toni Morrison, Love, Vintage (2016), page 75:

     A girl without a nightgown or bathing suit. Who had never used two pieces of flatware to eat.

   • 2007, Benjamin W. Pearce, Senior Living Communities, page 118:

     Flatware should not be allowed to dry between presoaking and washing. It should be washed with the handles down and stored with the handles up.

2. Plates, dishes and other relatively flat crockery.

   • 2000, David Brooks, Bobos in Paradise:

     The artsy set can now go to a Made By You—one of those places where you pay six times more to decorate your own mugs and dishes than it would cost to buy flatware that other people have decorated

• See also Thesaurus:cutlery

• hollowware