lunch

[ luhnch ]

noun

1. a light midday meal between breakfast and dinner; luncheon.
2. any light meal or snack.
3. a restaurant or lunchroom:

   Let's eat at the dairy lunch.

verb (used without object)

1. to eat lunch:

   We lunched quite late today.

verb (used with object)

1. to provide lunch for:

   They lunched us in regal fashion.

lunch

/ lʌntʃ /

noun

1. a meal eaten during the middle of the day
2. (among older people) mid-afternoon tea

verb

1. intr to eat lunch
2. tr to provide or buy lunch for

Derived Forms

• ˈluncher, noun

Other Words From

• luncher noun
• lunchless adjective
• pre·lunch adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lunch¹

First recorded in 1585–95; short for luncheon

Word History and Origins

Origin of lunch¹

C16: probably short form of luncheon

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. out to lunch, Slang. not paying attention or tending to business; negligent:

   You must have been out to lunch when you wrote that weird report.

More idioms and phrases containing lunch

see eat someone alive (someone's lunch) ; free lunch ; lose one's lunch ; out to (lunch) .

Example Sentences

Yu acknowledged that there is a risk of a “backlog” in the kitchen if everyone wants their lunch at the same time, but he said KitchenMate tries to alleviate this issue by allowing people to pre-order their meals in the app.

From TechCrunch

The Rotisserie League was named after the restaurant where the founders often ate lunch.

From Freakonomics

Incarcerated military veterans enter the dining hall for lunch at the Cybulski Rehabilitation Center in Enfield, Connecticut.

From Ozy

It’s kind of folklore and the sort of thing you learn over a lunch table discussion around the common room.

From Quanta Magazine

A 63-year-old woman and her family walked into a crowded restaurant for lunch, after returning from Wuhan the day before.

From Science News

According to the USDA, student participation began to fall, with 1.4 million students opting out of the lunch program entirely.

From The Daily Beast

Two Indonesian airlines, Garuda and Lion Air, have seen Fernandes eat their lunch and are only now responding.

From The Daily Beast

Twenty-one-and-a-half million students participate in free or reduced-price school lunch programs.

From The Daily Beast

On one summer lunch hour, Donna Ann Levonuk, 50, lifted a tub of diaper cream priced at $43.98—and then stashed it in her purse.

From The Daily Beast

I'm to be at his Universal bungalow at twelve-thirty for lunch, to meet him for the first time, going to see a man about a job.

From The Daily Beast

HE ordered a lunch which he thought the girl would like, with wine to revive the faculties that he knew must be failing.

From Project Gutenberg

I often recall the farewell lunch we had together at the Restaurant de Paris, in the Escolta.

From Project Gutenberg

He paid for the lunch, and tipped the waiters so liberally that they all hoped he would come again often.

From Project Gutenberg

I'd much rather see what is going on than be cooped up below, and after lunch I told Bob I was going up on deck.

From Project Gutenberg

At lunch he was the greatest possible fun, bubbling over with jokes and witty sallies.

From Project Gutenberg