lunch

American  

[luhnch] / lʌntʃ /

noun

lunches plural

1. a light midday meal between breakfast and dinner; luncheon.

2. any light meal or snack.

3. a restaurant or lunchroom.

   Let's eat at the dairy lunch.

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verb (used without object)

lunches, present (3rd person singular) lunched, past participle, past lunching present participle

1. to eat lunch.

   We lunched quite late today.

verb (used with object)

lunches, present (3rd person singular) lunched, past participle, past lunching present participle

1. to provide lunch for.

   They lunched us in regal fashion.

idioms

1. out to lunch, not paying attention or tending to business; negligent.

   You must have been out to lunch when you wrote that weird report.

lunch British  

/ lʌntʃ /

noun

1. a meal eaten during the middle of the day

2. (among older people) mid-afternoon tea

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verb

1. (intr) to eat lunch

2. (tr) to provide or buy lunch for

lunch More Idioms  

1. see eat someone alive (someone's lunch); free lunch; lose one's lunch; out to (lunch).

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• luncher
  noun
• lunchless
  adjective
• prelunch
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lunches
  plural

Participles

• lunching
  present
• lunched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lunch
  simple
• lunches
  simple
• have lunched
  perfect
• has lunched
  perfect
• am lunching
  progressive
• are lunching
  progressive
• is lunching
  progressive
• have been lunching
  perfect progressive
• has been lunching
  perfect progressive

Past

• lunched
  simple
• had lunched
  perfect
• was lunching
  progressive
• were lunching
  progressive
• had been lunching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lunch
  simple
• will have lunched
  perfect
• will be lunching
  progressive
• will have been lunching
  perfect progressive

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

Lunch finished, we settle next to a Wurlitzer jukebox in the corner of the room.

From BBC • May 27, 2026

Lunch boxes and other merchandise with the stars’ images flew off of store shelves.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Lunch, in this framing, is not a reward for productivity.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026

Lunch was a platter of french fries, a soft pretzel with cheese and Dippin’ Dots.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

I had recently finished Naked Lunch and wanted to see where Burroughs had been insane, or brilliant, or both.

From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos