free lunch

noun

1. food provided without charge in some bars and saloons to attract customers.
2. Informal. something given with no expectation of repayment, service, responsibility, etc.:

   In politics there's no free lunch—everyone expects favors to be repaid.

Word History and Origins

Origin of free lunch¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Idioms and Phrases

Something acquired without due effort or cost. For example, In politics there is no free lunch; every favor calls for repayment . This expression alludes to the custom of taverns offering food free of charge to induce customers to buy drinks. It was soon extended to other kinds of gift but is often used in a negative way, as in the example. [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

Targeting lower-cost conversions can be risky because there is no such thing as a free lunch.

From Search Engine Land

Many of the children speak a language other than English at home and qualify for free lunch through their schools.

From Washington Post

In the physical world, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that’s also true on the internet.

From Popular-Science

In other words—no one, or at least very few, gets a free lunch.

From Nautilus

It’s not quite a free lunch, but it should at least put food in the nation’s stomachs.

From Fortune

It promises those who sign up that “you'll get a free lunch and a chance to meet and interact with Iowa GOP staffers.”

From The Daily Beast

Other school districts around the country have been adopting the “no such thing as a free lunch” policy.

From The Daily Beast

Of course, the Vatican insists that there is really no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to the road to heaven.

From The Daily Beast

Which is why I find it a bit surprising that we haven't had politicians complaining about this "corporate free lunch."

From The Daily Beast

After all, if the tax break goes away, these companies can still buy the free lunch; they just can't deduct it from their taxes.

From The Daily Beast

There is nothing to do but climb this tree, unless you want to furnish a free lunch for those brutes.

From Project Gutenberg

The odd jobs about saloons which are usually done for beer-payment he performed under the inspiration of the free-lunch counter.

From Project Gutenberg

The locomotive was about two-saucepan power, my boy, and wheezed like a New York Alderman at a free lunch.

From Project Gutenberg

He lives on beer, and when he helps himself to the free lunch on the counter, he eats little more than a bird.

From Project Gutenberg

"This is all very well as a 'free lunch' conspiracy; but you're forgetting your parole," he said, in a low voice.

From Project Gutenberg