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

• mealless adjective
• meal-less 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

The kitchen-sink meals taste good, save money and, happily, result in fewer dishes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That amount is equivalent to 120 billion meals a year: more than twice as many meals as would be needed to feed those 47 million hungry Americans three times a day for an entire year.

Read more on Salon

She said her new stove was on the way, and she planned to go with a classic Thanksgiving meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

At a weekly community kitchen in Worcester, where people on low incomes can get a free meal, residents have had their say.

Read more on BBC

The council said it would pay for projects providing warm hubs, free meals, cookery workshops and money advice.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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