meal

Study(25)

UK /miːl/ US /mil/

noun 9verb 2

Collocations

(noun.)

ADJ

big, filling, heavy

After the big meal at my grandmother's house, everyone felt tired and relaxed.

slap-up | lavish, sumptuous

square, substantial

After working all day, he finally sat down to a substantial meal with his family.

light, simple

After the movie, we stopped for a simple meal at the café near our house.

meagre

After working all day, he was disappointed by the meagre meal served at the small restaurant.

four-course, three-course, etc.

appetizing, decent, delicious, excellent, lovely, tasty

We had a lovely meal at that new Italian restaurant last weekend.

balanced, healthy, nourishing, wholesome

main

My family always eats our main meal together in the evening after work.

evening, midday

hot

After a long day at work, she looked forward to cooking a hot meal for her family.

vegetarian

Definitions

noun

Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity.

Breakfast is the morning meal, lunch is the noon meal, and dinner, or supper, is the evening meal.

c1450, Secreta Secretorumː He that will cast meal upon meal is not able to have (a) long life.

Food served or eaten as a repast.

a1450, The Macro Playsː If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me.

This is the meal pleasantly set . . . . this is the meat and drink for natural hunger, / It is for the wicked just the same as the righteous . . . .

A break taken by a police officer in order to eat.

They [tape recorders] can be turned off while officers are on meal or in the car to protect their private conversations […]

“I was on meal when I heard the call on the radio and recognized the address. What the hell?”

A time or an occasion.

Ye wolde wepe at every mele; But for my sone wepe ye never a dele. You would weep at every meal, but for my son you never weep a deal.

[…] by occasion whereoff thai woll than at every mele groche with the kinge […] […] by occasion whereof they will, then at every meal, grouch with the king […]

noun

The ground-up edible part of various grains, used as a basis of food or feed; either flour or a coarser blend than flour (usage varies).

Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

Any of various similarly granular materials prepared from other sources, such as bones or wood.

Any of various other granular or powdery materials, either ground by humans or occurring in nature, named figuratively after a resemblance to grain meal.

verb

To yield or be plentiful in meal.

Of course the yield of grain was small, but much greater than could have been expected; and, the ears being well filled, it mealed well. The pastures were burnt up, so that there was nothing left for the cattle to eat.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — the food served and eaten at one time

repast

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

make a meal of

To spend more time and energy on some task than it warrants; to make something overly complicated; to make a big thing out of.

Some people can make a meal out of the simplest task. If you give it to a busy person, they don’t have time to muck around on the edges and worry about it — they’ll just do it.

square meal

A (nutritionally) complete and satisfying meal, especially one suitable for a person performing physical labour.

Three square meals a day should give you plenty of energy.

meal ticket

A ticket or voucher that can be exchanged for food.

Volunteers are provided with a meal ticket for every four hours of service.

enjoy your meal

Used to wish someone enjoyment of the meal they are about to eat.

no mill, no meal

If one does not work, one shall not eat.

Example Bank

Breakfast is the morning meal, lunch is the noon meal, and dinner, or supper, is the evening meal.

Wiktionary

c1450, Secreta Secretorumː He that will cast meal upon meal is not able to have (a) long life.

Wiktionary

c1500, The King and the Hermitː I have been there and taken deal / And have had many (a) merry meal.

Wiktionary

Of course the yield of grain was small, but much greater than could have been expected; and, the ears being well filled, it mealed well. The pastures were burnt up, so that there was nothing left for

Wiktionary

Were he meal'd with that / Which he corrects, than were he tyrannous.

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, meal is marked as informal, obsolete, UK. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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