dinner
Americannoun
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dinners
plural
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the main meal of the day, eaten in the evening or at midday.
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a formal meal in honor of some person or occasion.
noun
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a meal taken in the evening
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a meal taken at midday, esp when it is the main meal of the day; lunch
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a formal evening meal, as of a club, society, etc
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a public banquet in honour of someone or something
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a complete meal at a fixed price in a restaurant; table d'hôte
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(modifier) of, relating to, or used at dinner
dinner plate
dinner table
dinner hour
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informal (usually passive) to do for, overpower, or outdo
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dinner
1250–1300; Middle English diner < Old French disner (noun use of v.); see dine
Explanation
Dinner — also called supper — is the third meal of the day. It's the main meal, the one families often try to have together at the end of the day. If you skipped breakfast and lunch, then you probably can't wait for dinner: you must be starving! Dinner has always been the main meal, but it used to be served in the middle of the day and supper was last. Now that dinner is in the evening, too, supper and dinner are almost the same thing in the United States — you might go to a dinner in honor of someone, but not a supper, which wouldn't be as fancy.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Invite your friends or family for lunch or dinner.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
The women headed to dinner at one of Ibiza’s hippy markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
If you spend three hours catching up over dinner instead of hopping between bars, are you participating less in nightlife?
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
The excerpt below is a scene from a dinner party in which one character launches into a riff about the pervasiveness of Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook recipes at social gatherings.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
He’s even had one or two of them over for dinner.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
With life lessons learned among the bees, communal dinners, and music, King not only helps her gradually integrate into the community, but also passes on his leadership role to her.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
I’ve been to a dozen of those dinners.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
His informal getup, a T-shirt and shorts, contrasts with the elegant environment primed for business lunches and ostentatious dinners.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
He began with a series of intimate dinners and group-coaching sessions, and has since expanded to executive retreats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
“My family does Sunday dinners too,” JP says.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
