Under Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (the book used by most organizations), the subsidiary motion to lay on the table is properly used only when it is necessary to suspend consideration of a main motion in order to deal with another matter that has come up unexpectedly and which must be dealt with before the pending motion can be properly addressed.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(parliamentary_procedure)

Basically, the motion is "put on the table" while something else is considered, where it can be retrieved later for reconsideration. The reason the phrase "table" is used to "kill" a motion is because it used to frequently suspend consideration indefinitely.