dish
Americannoun
-
dishes
plural
-
an open, relatively shallow container of pottery, glass, metal, wood, etc., used for various purposes, especially for holding or serving food.
-
any container used at table.
dirty dishes.
-
the food served or contained in a dish.
The meal consisted of several dishes.
-
a particular article, type, or preparation of food.
Rice is an inexpensive dish.
-
the quantity held by a dish; dishful.
a dish of applesauce.
-
anything like a dish in form or use.
-
concavity or the degree of concavity, as of a wheel.
-
Also called dish antenna. a concave, dish-shaped reflector serving to focus electromagnetic energy as part of a transmitter or receiver of radio, television, or microwave signals.
-
Slang. an attractive person, especially a female.
His wife is quite a dish.
-
Slang. an item of gossip.
verb (used with object)
-
dishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dished,
past participle, past
-
dishing
present participle
-
to put into or serve in a dish, as food.
to dish food onto plates.
-
to fashion like a dish; make concave.
-
Slang. to gossip about.
They talked all night, dishing their former friends.
-
Slang. to defeat; frustrate; cheat.
verb (used without object)
-
dishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dished,
past participle, past
-
dishing
present participle
verb phrase
idioms
noun
-
a container used for holding or serving food, esp an open shallow container of pottery, glass, etc
-
the food that is served or contained in a dish
-
a particular article or preparation of food
a local fish dish
-
Also called: dishful. the amount contained in a dish
-
something resembling a dish, esp in shape
-
a concavity or depression
-
short for dish aerial satellite dish aerial
-
informal an attractive person
-
informal something that one particularly enjoys or excels in
verb
-
to put into a dish
-
to make hollow or concave
-
informal to ruin or spoil
he dished his chances of getting the job
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dishsimple
-
dishessimple
-
have dishedperfect
-
has dishedperfect
-
am dishingprogressive
-
are dishingprogressive
-
is dishingprogressive
-
have been dishingperfect progressive
-
has been dishingperfect progressive
Past
-
dishedsimple
-
had dishedperfect
-
was dishingprogressive
-
were dishingprogressive
-
had been dishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dish
before 900; Middle English; Old English disc dish, plate, bowl (akin to German Tisch table) < Latin discus dish, discus
Explanation
A dish is something on which you serve, cook, or eat food. You need an extra large dish to make a casserole big enough to feed your entire extended family. You can use the noun dish to talk about the enamel, ceramic, metal, or plastic vessel your food is in, and you can also use it for the food itself. You might say, "This macaroni and cheese was my great aunt Mathilda's favorite dish." When you serve it, you can say that you "dish it out" — although figuratively, this also means "administer punishment."
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:
"Using mini-intestinal organoids grown in a dish and by working alongside a diverse team of researchers and clinicians, we uncovered the inflammatory signals responsible for this cell death response."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
People stop by Amadou Gaye's shack at the market in the western town of Sukuta to use his small electric mill to grind millet for cooking porridge or the local steamed grain dish called chere.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Rhys owns a 1939 wooden cruiser boat, which shares its name with a famous Welsh dish.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
“We’ve never repeated a dish at lunch,” Tamburo said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
She gestures at a dish of purple something.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Cardoso said he obsessively tweaked dishes daily, aiming to find finishing touches that could separate Skywalker Grill as a museum restaurant and allow it to stand as a destination of its own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
“It’s fun,” student Max Sherman said of washing dishes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
It is sensible, then, in one respect, to try to pin down and control the minutiae of what you can: your dishes and your kitchen, your teeth and your face.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
As part of the changes, deep-fried chips will have to be oven-baked instead, and pasta dishes will need to be 50% wholewheat once a week.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
"And after I finish the dishes, I'll bring you in for your bath. It's almost bedtime."
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
He dished an assist to second-year forward Adou Thiero on the next possession, then knocked down his next shot, another three-pointer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
The ICO recently dished out a £14m fine to online platform Reddit, finding it had unlawfully used children's personal information and failed to adequately check the age of its users.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
She also dished out some tips for renovating your own space, telling fans, “You don’t have to do it all in one day. Start with the key pieces and build outward.”
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
Elwes, who stars in the new Peacock crime series “M.I.A.,” also dished about the nickname Marlon Brando gave him and what he lost in the L.A. wildfires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
I dished myself out a helping of green string beans and turned to pass the tureen to the enormous red-headed woman at my right.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Sick of the punishment the Thunder were dishing out, he may or may not have urged his teammates to return the favor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Hari certainly understands this; she regularly posts content on how to avoid eating food grown with Roundup, dishing out advice like “buy local & ask about pesticides” and “grow your own food.”
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
Smart returned for the final two games, dishing out 17 assists while the Lakers tried to keep their offense afloat without Doncic and Reaves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Whether its dishing out billions to build out the infrastructure to power AI, or investing in new AI products to try to improve productivity, companies are investing massive amounts of money on AI.
From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026
My father, dishing out the beef stew, says that a species a day is becoming extinct.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
