dish
Americannoun
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dishes
plural
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an open, relatively shallow container of pottery, glass, metal, wood, etc., used for various purposes, especially for holding or serving food.
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any container used at table.
dirty dishes.
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the food served or contained in a dish.
The meal consisted of several dishes.
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a particular article, type, or preparation of food.
Rice is an inexpensive dish.
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the quantity held by a dish; dishful.
a dish of applesauce.
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anything like a dish in form or use.
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concavity or the degree of concavity, as of a wheel.
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Also called dish antenna. a concave, dish-shaped reflector serving to focus electromagnetic energy as part of a transmitter or receiver of radio, television, or microwave signals.
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Slang. an attractive person, especially a female.
His wife is quite a dish.
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Slang. an item of gossip.
verb (used with object)
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dishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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dished,
past participle, past
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dishing
present participle
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to put into or serve in a dish, as food.
to dish food onto plates.
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to fashion like a dish; make concave.
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Slang. to gossip about.
They talked all night, dishing their former friends.
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Slang. to defeat; frustrate; cheat.
verb (used without object)
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dishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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dished,
past participle, past
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dishing
present participle
verb phrase
idioms
noun
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a container used for holding or serving food, esp an open shallow container of pottery, glass, etc
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the food that is served or contained in a dish
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a particular article or preparation of food
a local fish dish
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Also called: dishful. the amount contained in a dish
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something resembling a dish, esp in shape
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a concavity or depression
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short for dish aerial satellite dish aerial
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informal an attractive person
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informal something that one particularly enjoys or excels in
verb
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to put into a dish
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to make hollow or concave
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informal to ruin or spoil
he dished his chances of getting the job
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dishsimple
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dishessimple
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have dishedperfect
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has dishedperfect
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am dishingprogressive
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are dishingprogressive
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is dishingprogressive
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have been dishingperfect progressive
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has been dishingperfect progressive
Past
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dishedsimple
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had dishedperfect
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was dishingprogressive
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were dishingprogressive
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had been dishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dish
before 900; Middle English; Old English disc dish, plate, bowl (akin to German Tisch table) < Latin discus dish, discus
Explanation
A dish is something on which you serve, cook, or eat food. You need an extra large dish to make a casserole big enough to feed your entire extended family. You can use the noun dish to talk about the enamel, ceramic, metal, or plastic vessel your food is in, and you can also use it for the food itself. You might say, "This macaroni and cheese was my great aunt Mathilda's favorite dish." When you serve it, you can say that you "dish it out" — although figuratively, this also means "administer punishment."
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:
The giant space rocks are generally monitored by optical sensors, as they are too far away for Chilbolton's radar dish to detect.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
The dish, which brings an opulent touch to an otherwise everyman food, is one of several hot dog towers now being served in private suites at stadiums and at high-end taverns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
It turns out it’s not what you mix into the dish that makes it delicious—it’s how you cook the potatoes.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
For this cold noodle dish from Gu Grocery, blend toasted sesame seeds with soy sauce, rice vinegar, pickled mustard greens, and orange zest and juice for maximum flavor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
But he went to the refrigerator anyway, took out the dish that held the spinach, and ate some.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
The phage were placed on petri dishes growing a layer of bacteria on them and the scientists waited for signs their new viruses were enjoying the feast.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
They introduce viewers to the people, histories and communities behind a dish, proving what the best food journalists have always known: people don’t just fall in love with dishes, they fall in love with stories.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Ground yourself with some compassion: Slate senior editor Tony Ho Tran takes a spin as Prudie and dishes out some exceptionally heartfelt advice.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
Its menu includes gussied-up side dishes like honey-glazed carrots with whipped feta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The enormous amount of celadon ware found, including dishes, vases, pictures, and a huge number of exquisite celadon figurines, the likes of which had never been seen before, was extraordinary.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
For centuries, they have dished up wine from the surrounding vineyards to wash down typically hearty central European fare.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
The ICO recently dished out a £14m fine to online platform Reddit, finding it had unlawfully used children's personal information and failed to adequately check the age of its users.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
She also dished out some tips for renovating your own space, telling fans, “You don’t have to do it all in one day. Start with the key pieces and build outward.”
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
Elwes, who stars in the new Peacock crime series “M.I.A.,” also dished about the nickname Marlon Brando gave him and what he lost in the L.A. wildfires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
And here I was now, twenty-nine years old, sitting in the very same apartment where I'd watched all that TV and consumed all those meals dished up by the patient and selfless Marian Robinson.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Some people in L.A. are dishing out $7 per gallon, while in Indiana, the most affordable gas stations charge about $3.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Hari certainly understands this; she regularly posts content on how to avoid eating food grown with Roundup, dishing out advice like “buy local & ask about pesticides” and “grow your own food.”
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
Whether its dishing out billions to build out the infrastructure to power AI, or investing in new AI products to try to improve productivity, companies are investing massive amounts of money on AI.
From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026
He began worrying about whether listeners would keep tuning in to a bunch of self-described normal guys when they could hear an entire series from an NBA player dishing on locker room antics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
“Well, what do you expect, Kevin? You think he’s going to keep taking what they’re dishing out and ask for more with a smile?”
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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.
