supper
Americannoun
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suppers
plural
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the evening meal, often the principal meal of the day.
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any light evening meal, especially one taken late in the evening.
an after-the-theater supper.
adjective
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of or relating to supper.
the supper dishes.
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for, during, or including supper.
a supper party.
noun
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an evening meal, esp a light one
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an evening social event featuring a supper
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to obtain something by performing a service
verb
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rare (tr) to give supper to
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rare (intr) to eat supper
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of supper
1225–75; Middle English sup ( p ) er < Old French souper, noun use of souper to sup 2
Explanation
Supper, which is also known as dinner, is usually the third daily meal you eat. Many families try to sit down and eat supper together at the end of the day. First comes breakfast, then lunch, and then finally, in the evening, it's time for supper. The word supper is less common today than dinner, although North Americans generally consider the words to be synonyms. Until the early 20th century, the meal we now generally refer to as lunch was called dinner, while the evening meal was supper. It comes from the Old French soper, "to eat the evening meal."
Vocabulary lists containing supper
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:
"I was sitting watching on television with my supper on a tray thinking: 'I'm going to be able to retire with the proceeds of this song'," he told the newspaper.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
How could the staid old supper table compete with that?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
"The restaurant we went up to last night for supper, they were all talking about it."
From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026
Tornado Steak House – More of a classic supper club than a traditional steakhouse, and it absolutely delivers.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2026
We would take it downstairs to Mrs. Wigginbottom at supper.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
They’re the workhorses of the American table — dependable, durable, built for grab-and-go breakfasts and those messy, wonderful Sunday suppers.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2025
The heart of the space is an airy, sophisticated sitting room that connects on the south side to a dining room suggestive of decadent late night suppers in postwar Paris, and an industrial-inflected kitchen.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
Meanwhile Kerry Burley, who has been a regular at Burns suppers for more than a decade, is about to become president of Sandyford Burns Club in Glasgow.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2024
“It’s not all open vistas of the seas and shingled cottages of the rich. It’s cold, hard, long winters, people having bean suppers at church, traditions that go back to the 1600s.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
It had always been filled with people and suppers and music and toys and coloring books.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
