dish

[ dish ]
See synonyms for: dishdisheddishesdishing on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an open, relatively shallow container of pottery, glass, metal, wood, etc., used for various purposes, especially for holding or serving food.

  2. any container used at table: dirty dishes.

  1. the food served or contained in a dish: The meal consisted of several dishes.

  2. a particular article, type, or preparation of food: Rice is an inexpensive dish.

  3. the quantity held by a dish; dishful: a dish of applesauce.

  4. anything like a dish in form or use.

  5. concavity or the degree of concavity, as of a wheel.

  6. 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.

  7. Slang. an attractive person, especially a female: His wife is quite a dish.

  8. Slang. an item of gossip.

verb (used with object)
  1. to put into or serve in a dish, as food: to dish food onto plates.

  2. to fashion like a dish; make concave.

  1. Slang. to gossip about: They talked all night, dishing their former friends.

  2. Slang. to defeat; frustrate; cheat.

verb (used without object)
  1. Slang. to talk together informally, especially, to gossip.

Verb Phrases
  1. dish out, Informal.

    • to serve (food) from a serving dish, pot, etc.

    • to deal out; distribute: She dished out our pay in silver dollars.

Idioms about dish

  1. dish it out, Informal. to dispense abusive language, punishment, or praise, enthusiastic approval, etc.: When it comes to flattery, he can really dish it out.

Origin of dish

1
before 900; Middle English; Old English disc dish, plate, bowl (akin to German Tisch table) <Latin discus dish, discus

Other words from dish

  • un·der·dish, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dish in a sentence

  • But strangest of all the dishes at the Tagal's feast was one prepared from a kind of beetle.

  • Look at those long rows of pewter dishes and platters that grace the shelves.

    The World Before Them | Susanna Moodie
  • Then he looked with cold insolence from the dishes set before Garnache to those which were being set for himself.

    St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini
  • The dishes troubled her, they were so thick and nicked in so many places, that it was difficult to find one which was whole.

    The Cromptons | Mary J. Holmes
  • She had looked into the kitchen and saw the dishes in the sink and the gaping stove hearth, and shook her head.

British Dictionary definitions for dish

dish

/ (dɪʃ) /


noun
  1. a container used for holding or serving food, esp an open shallow container of pottery, glass, etc

  2. the food that is served or contained in a dish

  1. a particular article or preparation of food: a local fish dish

  2. Also called: dishful the amount contained in a dish

  3. something resembling a dish, esp in shape

  4. a concavity or depression

  5. informal an attractive person

  6. informal something that one particularly enjoys or excels in

verb(tr)
  1. to put into a dish

  2. to make hollow or concave

  1. British informal to ruin or spoil: he dished his chances of getting the job

Origin of dish

1
Old English disc, from Latin discus quoit, see disc

Derived forms of dish

  • dishlike, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with dish

dish

In addition to the idioms beginning with dish

  • dish out
  • dish the dirt

also see:

  • do the dishes

Also see underdishwater.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.