Dutch treat


nounSometimes Offensive.
  1. a meal or entertainment for which each person pays their own expenses.

Origin of Dutch treat

1
First recorded in 1870–75

usage note For Dutch treat

A Dutch treat is not a treat at all. Because Dutch is used here to negate the concept of a generous treat, the term is sometimes perceived as insulting. See also Dutch.

Words Nearby Dutch treat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for Dutch treat

Dutch treat

noun
  1. informal an entertainment, meal, etc, where each person pays for himself

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Dutch treat

Dutch treat

An outing or date on which each person pays his or her own way. To “go Dutch” is to go on such a date.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with Dutch treat

Dutch treat

An outing or date in which each person pays his or her own expenses. For example, Her parents agreed that she might date if it were a Dutch treat. The related expression go Dutch means “to go on a date with each person paying their own way,” as in Students often elect to go Dutch. The first term dates from about 1870, and the variant from the early 1900s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.