meal

¹ American  

[meel] / mil /

noun

1. the food served and eaten especially at one of the customary, regular occasions for taking food during the day, as breakfast, lunch, or supper.

2. one of these regular occasions or times for eating food.

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meal ² American  

[meel] / mil /

noun

1. a coarse, unsifted powder ground from the edible seeds of any grain.

   wheat meal;

   cornmeal.

2. any ground or powdery substance, as of nuts or seeds, resembling this.

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-meal ³ American  

1. a native English combining form, now unproductive, denoting a fixed measure at a time.

   piecemeal.

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meal ¹ British  

/ miːl /

noun

1. 1. any of the regular occasions, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc, when food is served and eaten

   2. ( in combination )

      mealtime

2. the food served and eaten

3. informal to perform (a task) with unnecessarily great effort

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meal ² British  

/ miːl /

noun

1. the edible part of a grain or pulse (excluding wheat) ground to a coarse powder, used chiefly as animal food

2. oatmeal

3. maize flour

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meal Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing meal

• square meal

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Other Word Forms

• meal-less adjective
• mealless adjective

Etymology

Origin of meal¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English mǣl “measure, fixed time, occasion”; cognate with German Mal “time,” Mahl “meal,” Old Norse māl, Gothic mēl “time, hour”

Origin of meal²

First recorded before 900; Middle English mele, Old English melu; cognate with German Mehl, Dutch meel, Old Norse mjǫl, Gothic malan; akin to Latin molere “to grind” ( mill ¹ )

Origin of -meal³

Middle English -mele, Old English -mǣlum, combining form representing mǣl meal ¹

Example Sentences

Daily life in the Japanese jail was strict, with a regimented routine of sleep, meals and listening to the radio.

From BBC

Buses are showing up to local charter schools half empty and schools are ordering meals that go uneaten.

From The Wall Street Journal

The second examined sodium reduction goals set for 2024 in the United Kingdom, targeting packaged foods and takeaway meals.

From Science Daily

Your third-grader happily plows through a plate of rigatoni with meat sauce, one of the few meals he will eat without protest, blissfully unaware that extra vegetables have been blended in for structural support.

From Salon

Many decades later, creating meals from scratch – not because I have to, but because I want to – is a cherished avocation.

From Salon

Related Words

• breakfast
• brunch
• dessert
• dinner
• fare
• feast
• lunch
• luncheon
• picnic
• refreshment
• snack
• supper
• table
• tea