What does fast food mean? Fast food is food quickly prepared and served, often at chain restaurants and typically associated with less expensive and less nutritious items like hamburgers, french fries, and soft drinks.
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
US officials on Friday pinned the source of a diarrhea-causing foodborne parasite as shredded iceberg lettuce used by the fast food chain Taco Bell.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
João Valentim and his friends, a group made up of Portuguese graduate students traveling from Madrid, have also been trying "mostly fast food, chain restaurants that we don't have in our own country."
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Addressing the issue of fast food outlets, Tice said they should be at risk of losing "their licence to operate" if they are "continually responsible for litter around their premises and beyond".
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
It’s quite thinkable to eat fast food in a car in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
She couldn’t cook very well, so they ate a lot of fast food.
From "Forged by Fire" by Sharon M. Draper
In 2024, state law made it so that all eligible fast-food employees would receive a minimum wage of $20 an hour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
US fast-food chain Taco Bell is removing lettuce from its menu in some states after investigations found it could be linked to an outbreak of explosive diarrhoea caused by a parasite.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
After leaving a club, the men crossed paths with the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, at a fast-food restaurant and they all went to the beach.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
A now-famous blond woman of about 25 at a fast-food drive-through: “They have bible verses on the bottom of their cup!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Trash is heaped near the main entrance steps—plastic cups, fast-food wrappers, broken beer bottles—all partially hidden underneath a thin dusting of snow.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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.
