square meal
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of square meal
First recorded in 1830–40
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.
Three or four children cram behind each desk at a local school, which aims to feed each pupil a bowl of rice and beans so they can have at least one square meal per day.
From Reuters ● Dec. 13, 2021
Maybe for lunch today I’ll make a square meal of my own.
From The Verge ● Aug. 26, 2021
I also think you could consider having some/all of your teenagers plan and prepare a square meal for the family on a semiregular basis.
From Slate ● Nov. 25, 2020
Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, February 12, 2011; 3:10 PM Gordon Smith believes few things are more American than a square meal with peas, carrots and corn.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2011
They’d planned the same stunt, signed on for a square meal and a month’s pay.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
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.
