dine
verb (used without object)
to eat the principal meal of the day; have dinner.
dine
1 American
[dahyn]
/ daɪn /
verb (used without object)
-
dines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dined,
past participle, past
-
dining
present participle
-
to eat the principal meal of the day; have dinner.
-
to take any meal.
verb (used with object)
-
dines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dined,
past participle, past
-
dining
present participle
noun
verb phrase
Dine
2
American
[dahyn]
/ daɪn /
noun
Diné
3
American
[dih-nay]
/ dɪˈneɪ /
noun
-
Dinés,
plural
-
Diné
plural
adjective
dine
British
/ daɪn /
verb
-
(intr) to eat dinner
-
(intr; often foll by on, off, or upon) to make one's meal (of)
the guests dined upon roast beef
-
informal (tr) to entertain to dinner (esp in the phrase wine and dine someone )
dine
Idioms
Sensitive Note
The name Diné comes from the Native Athabascan language of the tribe, and it is preferred by many over Navajo, a name assigned by Spanish missionaries. Nevertheless, Navajo and Navaho are still in use and remain acceptable.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dinesimple
-
dinessimple
-
have dinedperfect
-
has dinedperfect
-
am diningprogressive
-
are diningprogressive
-
is diningprogressive
-
have been diningperfect progressive
-
has been diningperfect progressive
Past
-
dinedsimple
-
had dinedperfect
-
was diningprogressive
-
were diningprogressive
-
had been diningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dine1
1250–1300; Middle English dinen < Anglo-French, Old French di ( s ) ner < Vulgar Latin *disjējūnāre to break one's fast, equivalent to Latin dis- dis- 1 + Late Latin jējūnāre to fast; see jejune
Origin of Diné3
First recorded in 1915–20; a self-designation meaning “The People”; see also Navajo ( def. )
Explanation
To dine is to eat a meal, particularly the last meal of the day. When you invite friends over for dinner, you can ask them if they'd like to dine with you. You can dine at home, or dine at a fancy restaurant — in either case, you're eating dinner. If someone tells you they "dine out on" a funny story, they mean it's endlessly entertaining and buys them a lot of good will and amusement. The verb dine comes from the Old French disner, "to dine" or "to have a meal," from desjunare, "to break one's fast."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Also, nothing says “you’re a real friend” better than an invitation to dine at home.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
But there's money to be saved on items needed to buy anyway, that's more cash left over for when you do decide to dine out.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Guests stroll into blacksmith shops and corn mills, dine on cinnamon bread and other local delicacies, and seek quiet time in an authentic Appalachian chapel.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Monroe does dine out once per week, including for burritos — she favors the $11 burrito at Brother’s Cousins Tacos in Sawtelle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
We are going to dine tonight in our rooms, with our family, sharing hamburgers, french fries, and apple pie a la mode.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
At Dine Brands, the parent company of Applebee’s and IHOP, value is built partly on product novelty and social shareability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Bloomin’ Brands and Dine Brands Global reported higher first-quarter revenue, aided by value offers and menu updates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Dine Brands Global’s Applebee’s same-restaurant sales rose 1.9%, and the company plans 80 domestic dual-branded restaurants by year-end.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
“Our perspective is that this is the new normal,” said John Peyton, CEO of Dine Brands Global, the parent of Applebee’s and IHOP.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
His limbs tingled and tickled, reawakening from the five-hour drive to his paternal grandmother’s mobile home on Dine Homelands, forty-five minutes north of Church Rock.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
Ch’eelil Peter, 17, who is Gwich’in and Diné and lives in Arctic Village south of ANWR, is a party to a lawsuit seeking to shut down the natural gas pipeline once and for all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
While giving back local control was Trump’s stated rationale, tribes in the area, like the Diné, Ute, Hopi, and Zuni, had been working for years to protect the two iconic and culturally significant sites.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2024
Raven Chacon, a Diné composer and visual artist, won the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2022.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2024
“They’ve had 90 years to do better and they have not protected our communities,” said Chavez, an Albuquerque resident who is Diné, tracing her ancestry to the Navajo.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
Jason relaxed even more, comforted by the knowledge that there was another Diné person nearby.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
A test for Mr. Pelley will be whether he dines out for the rest of his life on the, um, puffed-up version of his firing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Those fitting the profile of a “Daily Diner,” someone who exclusively dines out, could be spending well over $5,000 a year, making those “let’s do lunch” invitations a lot less appetizing.
From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2026
Every second Saturday of the month, he dines there with a group of about 10 friends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
Advertising executive Hilda Lee, 30, said she enjoys eating Japanese seafood, and dines at Japanese restaurants two to three times each month.
From Reuters ● Aug. 22, 2023
She rushed to it and threw open the latches, then the lid. dines into a vehicle built for three.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
For their main course they dined on a sesame-crusted sea bass, braised bok choy and roasted eggplant.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Bezos and Sánchez have dined with the president and the first lady at Mar-a-Lago, and they attended the inauguration alongside other prominent technology CEOs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
The night before a brutal semifinal, Mussolini reportedly dined with the Swedish referee—who went on to officiate the final too.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Servers in traditional red clothing were seen bustling between colourfully adorned tables, where attendees dined on dishes including Beijing roast duck, pork buns and tiramisu.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
But even as they dined and celebrated, disturbing rumors began to circulate in the hallways of the Princeton Inn.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
In addition to seven bedrooms and 20 bathrooms, the stately interiors include multiple dining rooms, lounges and a walnut-paneled library.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
The units contained amenities including air conditioners, big-screen televisions, refrigerators, sofas and dining areas.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
The inmates allegedly paid rent for the accommodation complete with couches, large beds, TVs, fridges -- even dining tables.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Most of my money goes toward rent, groceries and dining, and I often fly American Airlines to visit my family in Charlotte.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
It was not until the icy February morning that Christoffels stumbled into the dining room with a bleeding cheek and a torn coat that the truth came out.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
