tiffin

[ tif-in ]
See synonyms for tiffin on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a light midday meal; lunch

verb (used without object)
  1. to eat a light midday meal.

verb (used with object)
  1. to provide a light meal for; serve lunch to.

Origin of tiffin

1
First recorded in 1800–05; variant of tiffing (unattested), equivalent to tiff (obsolete) “to sip, drink, snack between meals” + -ing1

Other definitions for Tiffin (2 of 2)

Tiffin
[ tif-in ]

noun
  1. a city in N Ohio.

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

How to use tiffin in a sentence

  • On her table is the most appetizing of tiffins; and after it we have another talk through the office window.

  • We rode our tiffins back and met Miss Eastinhoe with her friends.

    Mr. Jacobs | Arlo Bates
  • I saw him on and off for a week, usually at tiffins or dinners given for him by some of his British friends.

    Many Fronts | Lewis R. Freeman
  • Having our tiffins saddled, we rode off at a breakneck pace, and cleverly managed to ride down the uncle of the heroine.

    Mr. Jacobs | Arlo Bates
  • Miss Tiffins bade us be seated, and then asked in what way she could be of service to us.

    A Bid for Fortune | Guy Boothby

British Dictionary definitions for tiffin

tiffin

/ (ˈtɪfɪn) /


noun
  1. (in India) a light meal, esp one taken at midday

Origin of tiffin

1
C18: probably from obsolete tiffing, from tiff to sip

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