lunch
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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:
England suffered a 270-run thrashing in the one-off women's Test at Lord's as India sealed the emphatic victory before lunch on the final day.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
After a late lunch with his wife in West Hollywood, Miguel Angel Aguilar got in his white convertible 1959 Chevrolet Impala and headed home to Bel-Air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
That morning, he dressed, took the lunch and coffee his wife had prepared for him, put on his hat and went out at 5:50 am.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Fly fishing comes with an additional charge: $500 for a half-day excursion, and $850 for a full-day, which includes lunch from the Huntōn, the hotel’s Michelin-recognized restaurant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
We sat on the edge of Willem’s bed gulping down the precious bun; I suspected that to buy it Willem had had to go without lunch.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The scheme, better known as the midday meal programme, provides free cooked lunches to children in government and government-aided schools.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
And while we tend to think of picnics as outdoor lunches — which means sandwiches, grain salads and the occasional tub of pasta salad — biscuits suggest a different possibility.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
Nearly 3 in 10 say the gift they would most value is recognition of the care giving they do—not a drugstore card, but genuine acknowledgment of the lunches, the logistics, the doctor’s appointments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
“You get good healthcare, nice leisurely lunches, it’s a different way of life,” he said, “It’s not that the grass is always greener, these are just facts.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
Her work raising funds for the new hospital assisted in this regard, in addition to her afternoon lunches with the other ladies of the neighborhood.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
They never divorced and lunched together almost daily.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
My friends and I lunched in the spring shade of Surprise Arch, a natural stone arch sandwiched between two massive rock walls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
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
During the trip, Mr. Musk also lunched with Bernard Arnault, the founder of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury company and a major advertiser.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
Having enjoyed a good morning's motoring in splendid weather, and having lunched well at a country inn, I had just crossed the border into Dorset.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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
When he returns to Mar-a-Lago in the afternoon, members lunching on the patio often stand and applaud.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 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
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.
