meal

¹

[meel]

noun

1. the food served and eaten especially at one of the customary, regular occasions for taking food during the day, as breakfast, lunch, or supper.

2. one of these regular occasions or times for eating food.

meal

²

[meel]

noun

1. a coarse, unsifted powder ground from the edible seeds of any grain.

   wheat meal;

   cornmeal.

2. any ground or powdery substance, as of nuts or seeds, resembling this.

-meal

³

1. a native English combining form, now unproductive, denoting a fixed measure at a time.

   piecemeal.

meal

¹

/ miːl /

noun

1. 1. any of the regular occasions, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc, when food is served and eaten

   2. ( in combination )

      mealtime

2. the food served and eaten

3. informal,  to perform (a task) with unnecessarily great effort

meal

²

/ miːl /

noun

1. the edible part of a grain or pulse (excluding wheat) ground to a coarse powder, used chiefly as animal food

2. oatmeal

3. maize flour

Other Word Forms

• meal-less adjective
• mealless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of meal¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English mǣl “measure, fixed time, occasion”; cognate with German Mal “time,” Mahl “meal,” Old Norse māl, Gothic mēl “time, hour”

Origin of meal²

First recorded before 900; Middle English mele, Old English melu; cognate with German Mehl, Dutch meel, Old Norse mjǫl, Gothic malan; akin to Latin molere “to grind” ( mill ¹ )

Origin of meal³

Middle English -mele, Old English -mǣlum, combining form representing mǣl meal ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of meal¹

Old English mǣl measure, set time, meal; related to Old High German māl mealtime

Origin of meal²

Old English melu; compare Dutch meel, Old High German melo, Old Norse mjöl

Idioms and Phrases

• square meal

Example Sentences

Mr Mackenzie said the "coffee offer now is credible" across Greene King's venues as the industry as a whole adapts to an environment where customers come in to have just a coffee or a meal.

Read more on BBC

The grocer is popular among shoppers for low prices, creative snacks and frozen meals all under its own brand.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And it will be restricting those who order room service to two meals per person — as opposed to the previous no-limit policy.

Read more on MarketWatch

When consumers try to stretch their dollars, they make their own meals and rely more on those types of food.

Read more on Barron's

This dish, colored with saffron and perfumed with warm spices, was inspired by a meal I recently enjoyed in Rafidi’s luxuriously updated restaurant, and shares his locavore approach.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• breakfast 
• brunch 
• dessert 
• dinner 
• fare 
• feast 
• lunch 
• luncheon 
• picnic 
• refreshment 
• snack 
• supper 
• table 
• tea