canteen

American  

[kan-teen] / kænˈtin /

noun

• canteens
  plural

1. a small container used especially by soldiers and hikers for carrying water or other liquids.

2. a general store and cafeteria at a military base.

3. a place where free entertainment is provided for military personnel.

4. a place, as in a factory, school, or summer camp, where refreshments and sometimes personal supplies are sold.

5. a recreation center or social club, especially for teenagers.

6. a place set up to dispense food during an emergency.

7. a snack bar.

8. British. a box or chest for cutlery and other table utensils.

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canteen British  

/ kænˈtiːn /

noun

1. a restaurant attached to a factory, school, etc, providing meals for large numbers of people

2. 1. a small shop that provides a limited range of items, such as toilet requisites, to a military unit

   2. a recreation centre for military personnel

3. a soldier's eating and drinking utensils

4. a temporary or mobile stand at which food is provided

5. 1. a box in which a set of cutlery is laid out

   2. the cutlery itself

6. a flask or canister for carrying water or other liquids, as used by soldiers or travellers

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• canteens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of canteen

1730–40; < French cantine < Italian cantina cellar, perhaps derivative of canto corner ( see cant ²) with -ina -ine ¹

Explanation

A canteen is a store that sells food and drink at an institution like a camp, college, or military base. A canteen can also be a small container used to carry water to drink. If you’re at summer camp, you can buy snacks at the canteen. This kind of canteen is a little shop. At the canteen, you can buy little things like potato chips or a can opener. A canteen is like a convenience store. The other kind of canteen is good if you’re going on a hike — fill it up with water and put it in your backpack, since there probably aren’t any of those other kinds of canteens out in the woods.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

canteen canteens

Justice Elena Kagan refers to herself as the “frozen yogurt justice” and even had a fro-yo machine installed in the court’s canteen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

In Volkswagen’s hometown of Wolfsburg, the company’s taste for self-sufficiency extends to making its own sausages for the staff canteen and owning the local soccer club.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Money does not change hands among residents, not in its cooperative grocery store nor community canteen.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

He will often be seen in the canteen making coffee and talking to the chef.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026

They washed and dressed and went with the others to the canteen for breakfast.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

The ad-hoc canteens range in scale from a single food truck in a parking lot to field kitchens fit for an army.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

At the height of the Cold War, Moscow operated an airport on Svalbard and three mining towns complete with state-of-the-art health facilities and 24-hour canteens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026

A PowerPoint presentation seen by the BBC outlined new lunch arrangements, with different year groups assigned to separate canteens.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2025

Exposing people to positive social norms, using posters in canteens encouraging vegetable consumption, or in bars to discourage dangerous levels of drinking, have been shown to work.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

The human beings also passed canteens, which guards would fill with water.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

Related Words

• flask
• water bottle