To back up only a single table from a database (such as the classics table from the publications database), you should first lock the table from within the MySQL command line, by issuing a command such as the following:

LOCK TABLES publications.classics READ;

This ensures that MySQL remains running for read purposes, but writes cannot be made. Then, while keeping the MySQL command line open, use another terminal window to issue the following command from the operating system command line:

mysqldump -u user -ppassword publications classics > classics.sql

You must now release the table lock by entering the following command from the MySQL command line in the first terminal window, which unlocks all tables that have been locked during the current session:

UNLOCK TABLES;