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

Other Word Forms

• luncher noun
• lunchless adjective
• prelunch adjective

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, not paying attention or tending to business; negligent.

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

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

Example Sentences

Office workers out to lunch got an impromptu lesson on its parts.

From Los Angeles Times

Families tend to gather and invite friends to join them for a Enkutatash meal either at lunch or in the evening - or both.

From BBC

They told the BBC that children had been placed in isolation for wearing incorrect uniform, and there were fewer usable toilets and insufficient time for lunch breaks.

From BBC

Instead, they are invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, as happened with former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush.

From BBC

“Retired police officer pays off district lunch debt.”

From Salon