diner

American  

[dahy-ner] / ˈdaɪ nər /

noun

• diners
  plural

1. a person who dines.

2. a railroad dining car.

3. a restaurant built like such a car.

4. a small, informal, and usually inexpensive restaurant.

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diner British  

/ ˈdaɪnə /

noun

1. a person eating a meal, esp in a restaurant

2. a small restaurant, often at the roadside

3. a fashionable bar, or a section of one, where food is served

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• diners
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of diner

First recorded in 1800–10; dine + -er ¹

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Explanation

A diner is a person who's eating a meal, and it's also a word for a casual restaurant. If you pass by a diner in a diner, check out what's on his plate. It could be anything from eggs over easy to salisbury steak. If you dine in a cafe you're a diner, and if you eat in the dining car on a train, you can call it a diner too. Your favorite neighborhood diner — a casual restaurant that keeps late hours and serves a variety of food — is actually named after these railroad restaurants. The original diners, from the 1930s, were shaped like train cars, often clad in stainless steel, and had long, narrow space inside with stools along a counter.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diner diners

That small decision — chips or no chips — moves the diner almost imperceptibly from guest to customer.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

Shelton isn’t a corned beef sandwich at an all-night diner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

A restaurant has always been an experience, but today’s chefs have more opportunities to shape that experience before a diner ever walks through the door.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

He reflected on how emotional it was to see the family leave the diner behind.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Chuck’s look-alike stares at me from the diner steps.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The chain is counting on lower-priced wraps and pricing transparency to attract diners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

“We want to make sure that’s more transparent,” which means diners get a protein, two bases and four toppings for around $13, with dressing and bread included, she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

In fact, 37% of surveyed diners said they were going out to eat less often than they did the year before, with most citing higher prices as their main reason for staying in.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Ghost kitchens asked diners to accept a peculiar new distance between the restaurant being advertised and the human reality of the meal.

From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026

We pass gas stations and diners and strip malls.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

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Related Words

• bistro
• booth
• coffee shop
• saloon

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