lunch
Americannoun
-
lunches
plural
verb (used without object)
-
lunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lunched,
past participle, past
-
lunching
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
lunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lunched,
past participle, past
-
lunching
present participle
idioms
noun
-
a meal eaten during the middle of the day
-
(among older people) mid-afternoon tea
verb
-
(intr) to eat lunch
-
(tr) to provide or buy lunch for
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lunchsimple
-
lunchessimple
-
have lunchedperfect
-
has lunchedperfect
-
am lunchingprogressive
-
are lunchingprogressive
-
is lunchingprogressive
-
have been lunchingperfect progressive
-
has been lunchingperfect progressive
Past
-
lunchedsimple
-
had lunchedperfect
-
was lunchingprogressive
-
were lunchingprogressive
-
had been lunchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lunch
First recorded in 1585–95; short for luncheon
Explanation
Lunch is the meal you eat in the middle of the day. If you only have a short lunch break during your school or work day, you might quickly eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The size of your lunch depends on what country you live in. In the US, most people eat a small lunch and a larger dinner at the end of the day. The word is a somewhat fancy verb, too: "Shall we lunch at the club, or have the cook make us something at home?" Lunch is a shortened version of luncheon, which may stem from the earlier dialectical lunch, "hunk of bread and cheese."
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:
A massive star has been torn apart and gradually consumed by a black hole in a spectacular event that scientists compared to "preparing a snack for lunch."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
During the pandemic, some employees would spent their lunch breaks conversing with the chatbots for fun, Zinger said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The 25-year-old put on 102 for the second wicket with Mominul Haque, who was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood for 49 before lunch.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
USA Today published a photo earlier this year of a sailor’s mostly empty lunch tray, which included a few chunks of boiled carrot and processed meat of an indeterminate nature.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
I sat at the Invisibles table at lunch.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
After a year in New York City, Dillon Davis and Nichols Neff were fed up with “corporate slop,” the bowl-centric meals that are a staple of sad office lunches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Noticing a need for affordable meals, Palacios and fellow USC student Josiah Herfurth spent this past semester hosting $10-per-person lunches at their college apartments, dubbing the offering Cafe 10:31.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Her world looks and operates like ours, and that means there are no free lunches.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
The reversal follows criticism from teachers, nutritionists and parents who argued that removing eggs from school lunches could deprive children from poor families a key source of protein.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
After clearing away leftovers and washing dishes at night, Naomi packed four lunches, folding wax paper around the sandwiches and laying out the thermos for Henry’s coffee.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
On our second date, we lunched at a Japanese restaurant, where he asked about my values and dreams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
The two spacecraft, lunched on a single rocket, separated in space.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2025
In the statement Monday noting Rubiales’ resignation, after Ceferin had lunched with the women delegates, there was praise but not words of solidarity toward the Spanish players or women’s soccer in general.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023
He lunched with Vice President Henry Wallace in Washington and attended the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
They marched, rested, marched, lunched on water and a box of stale doughnuts, walked, rested, and once again on the final lap, Dicey carried Sammy on her back.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
The two leaders ended up getting on well, even lunching together at times, despite belonging to different camps, said a senior U.S. defense official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Munir accompanied Sharif during a visit to Washington in June, lunching with Trump.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
A walkway runs along the length of it, passing by a giant dinosaur skeleton, a beach volleyball pitch and dozens of Googlers lunching under the hazy November sun.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025
When he returns to Mar-a-Lago in the afternoon, members lunching on the patio often stand and applaud.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
One of Bunny’s favorite ways to start a sentence had been to let drop, quite casually: “When Dad was lunching with Paul Vanderfeller the other day...”
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
