free lunch

American

noun

food provided without charge in some bars and saloons to attract customers.
Informal. something given with no expectation of repayment, service, responsibility, etc..

In politics there's no free lunch—everyone expects favors to be repaid.

free lunch Idioms

Something acquired without due effort or cost. For example, In politics there is no free lunch; every favor calls for repayment. This expression alludes to the custom of taverns offering food free of charge to induce customers to buy drinks. It was soon extended to other kinds of gift but is often used in a negative way, as in the example. [First half of 1800s]

Etymology

Origin of free lunch

First recorded in 1835–45

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.

Most experts agree that the biggest free lunch from Wall Street is diversification.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026

“There’s no free lunch, there’s no magic wand that makes all the problems go away,” said Fervo CEO Tim Latimer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

As Patti put it, "there is no free lunch" when it comes to sugar alternatives, and many metabolic pathways can ultimately lead back to liver dysfunction.

From Science Daily • Dec. 17, 2025

In the multipurpose room, where a free lunch was being prepared, Larry Fazio called out bingo numbers for early arrivals.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

The master, Mr. Benson, said the government was going to give us the free lunch so we wouldn’t have to be going home in the freezing weather.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023