lunch
Americannoun
-
lunches
plural
verb (used without object)
-
lunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lunched,
past participle, past
-
lunching
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
lunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lunched,
past participle, past
-
lunching
present participle
idioms
noun
-
a meal eaten during the middle of the day
-
(among older people) mid-afternoon tea
verb
-
(intr) to eat lunch
-
(tr) to provide or buy lunch for
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lunchsimple
-
lunchessimple
-
have lunchedperfect
-
has lunchedperfect
-
am lunchingprogressive
-
are lunchingprogressive
-
is lunchingprogressive
-
have been lunchingperfect progressive
-
has been lunchingperfect progressive
Past
-
lunchedsimple
-
had lunchedperfect
-
was lunchingprogressive
-
were lunchingprogressive
-
had been lunchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lunch
First recorded in 1585–95; short for luncheon
Explanation
Lunch is the meal you eat in the middle of the day. If you only have a short lunch break during your school or work day, you might quickly eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The size of your lunch depends on what country you live in. In the US, most people eat a small lunch and a larger dinner at the end of the day. The word is a somewhat fancy verb, too: "Shall we lunch at the club, or have the cook make us something at home?" Lunch is a shortened version of luncheon, which may stem from the earlier dialectical lunch, "hunk of bread and cheese."
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:
The oldest weapon in the drawer — the one that raised me, the one that could empty a lunch table in the 1990s — is losing its edge at the ballot box.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.3% after trading lower earlier, similar to China’s Shanghai Composite Index, which gained 1.7% after the lunch break.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
Dawn Dachenhausen, a financial adviser writing for the Retirement Strategy Group, based in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, has some words of caution for retirees who find it difficult to say no to a free lunch.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
Orban chose cheese, Vučiċ meat, when they sat down to a quick lunch of traditional burek pastries at a small, popular town centre bakery in Subotica almost a year ago.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
After putting my traps, lunch, and apples in a gunny sack, I called Rowdy and lit out for the bottoms to make my fortune.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Pérez has heard about recruiters traveling in July for lunches and dinners with admitted students to keep them engaged and ensure contact with the university.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
One advantage of being 70 is that we keep getting invited to free dinners and lunches.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
She estimates that about two children in every class could have a food allergy and said that, aside from school canteens and packed lunches, risks could lurk in expected places.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
And beachgoers now bring packed lunches instead of stopping at Captain Bob’s Chowder Sisters, said Melissa Huddleston, waiting for customers at her sister-in-law’s shop on Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
At recess, kids clustered up to eat their lunches, some of them chattering away in funny words I couldn’t understand.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
They never divorced and lunched together almost daily.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
On our second date, we lunched at a Japanese restaurant, where he asked about my values and dreams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
In the statement Monday noting Rubiales’ resignation, after Ceferin had lunched with the women delegates, there was praise but not words of solidarity toward the Spanish players or women’s soccer in general.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023
For 10 days, Ms. LuPone had to isolate, a lady who lunched alone in her apartment as she coped with flulike symptoms and fatigue.
From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2022
Mrs. Van Hopper lunched in the restaurant for the first time since her influenza, and I had a pain in the pit of my stomach as I followed her into the room.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
The two leaders ended up getting on well, even lunching together at times, despite belonging to different camps, said a senior U.S. defense official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Munir accompanied Sharif during a visit to Washington in June, lunching with Trump.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
A walkway runs along the length of it, passing by a giant dinosaur skeleton, a beach volleyball pitch and dozens of Googlers lunching under the hazy November sun.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025
Hours before lunching with Rendon in Lynwood, I had breakfast up the road with Hector De La Torre in his hometown of South Gate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
Soon she would be gone, rattling alone in the wagon-lit without me, and he and I would be together in the dining-room of the hotel, lunching at the same table, planning the future.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
