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:
I’d stop whenever something catches my eye, have a late lunch with friends and end the day with a great dinner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
I went out for dinner with my chairman, Peter Coates, and he said how Hull had made a wonderful start.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Trump pushed for a new granite helicopter landing pad on the White House South Lawn to be open in time for Xi's visit, which will include a grand state dinner.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
At BGC’s dinner event, elegant women in bright-red pencil dresses handed out drinks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
One Sunday when Father, Betsie, and I were having dinner at Hilversum, I commented on what I had concluded was simple thoughtlessness.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
She’s also got a rotation of slow cooker meals like lasagna and chicken teriyaki that make for hot, low-effort dinners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
A worthwhile compromise might be to tell your husband that you’d like to set a limit on how much you both are spending at these dinners.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
There will be a boost for fresh fruit and vegetables and deep-fried food will be banned in what the government has called the biggest shake-up to school dinners in England in over a decade.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Stuffing is made for weeknight dinners precisely because it is so good at absorbing the odds and ends that accumulate by midweek, without requiring another trip to the supermarket.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
“No more late-night shifts. No more dinners alone.”
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
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.
