dinner

American  

[din-er] / ˈdɪn ər /

noun

• dinners
  plural

1. the main meal of the day, eaten in the evening or at midday.

2. a formal meal in honor of some person or occasion.

3. table d'hôte.

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dinner British  

/ ˈdɪnə /

noun

1. a meal taken in the evening

2. a meal taken at midday, esp when it is the main meal of the day; lunch

3. 1. a formal evening meal, as of a club, society, etc

   2. a public banquet in honour of someone or something

4. a complete meal at a fixed price in a restaurant; table d'hôte

5. (modifier) of, relating to, or used at dinner

   dinner plate

   dinner table

   dinner hour

6. informal (usually passive) to do for, overpower, or outdo

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• predinner
  noun
• dinnerless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dinners
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of dinner

1250–1300; Middle English diner < Old French disner (noun use of v.); see dine

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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

See Examples For:

dinner dinners

But when you grow up, you’re stuck with a birthday dinner.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

On Wednesday evening Wenger joined Infantino and other Fifa Council members for dinner in a Zurich restaurant.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

I was talking to someone about the record over dinner — they haven’t heard a single note of it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

So when your hands are covered in dough, you can ask Siri to search the group chat for dinner plan details—and when you should leave to be on time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Tansy and Aunt Maud were back and forth between dish-board and stove, laying the groundwork for dinner.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

They eat specially curated dinners, strut around in breeders’ shows and often rule over their owners like whiskered tyrants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

It also remains unclear what, if anything of significance, was discussed at the two dinners.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Declarations of Burnham's contact with the club were released on Monday, but confusion grew later when it emerged records of two dinners Burnham had with Man City's chairman had been deleted.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

However, sales of frozen dinners and entrees dipped 0.1% to around $13.9 billion.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

First Ladies showed up in the news, having tea with the spouses of foreign dignitaries; they sent out official greetings on holidays and wore pretty gowns to state dinners.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• banquet
• feast
• supper

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