canteen

American  

[kan-teen] / kænˈtin /

noun

• canteens
  plural

1. a small container used especially by soldiers and hikers for carrying water or other liquids.

2. a general store and cafeteria at a military base.

3. a place where free entertainment is provided for military personnel.

4. a place, as in a factory, school, or summer camp, where refreshments and sometimes personal supplies are sold.

5. a recreation center or social club, especially for teenagers.

6. a place set up to dispense food during an emergency.

7. a snack bar.

8. British. a box or chest for cutlery and other table utensils.

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canteen British  

/ kænˈtiːn /

noun

1. a restaurant attached to a factory, school, etc, providing meals for large numbers of people

2. 1. a small shop that provides a limited range of items, such as toilet requisites, to a military unit

   2. a recreation centre for military personnel

3. a soldier's eating and drinking utensils

4. a temporary or mobile stand at which food is provided

5. 1. a box in which a set of cutlery is laid out

   2. the cutlery itself

6. a flask or canister for carrying water or other liquids, as used by soldiers or travellers

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• canteens
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of canteen

1730–40; < French cantine < Italian cantina cellar, perhaps derivative of canto corner ( see cant ²) with -ina -ine ¹

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Explanation

A canteen is a store that sells food and drink at an institution like a camp, college, or military base. A canteen can also be a small container used to carry water to drink. If you’re at summer camp, you can buy snacks at the canteen. This kind of canteen is a little shop. At the canteen, you can buy little things like potato chips or a can opener. A canteen is like a convenience store. The other kind of canteen is good if you’re going on a hike — fill it up with water and put it in your backpack, since there probably aren’t any of those other kinds of canteens out in the woods.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

canteen canteens

"We've got 50 minutes to eat at lunchtime but there are 2,000 of us that need to get through the canteen."

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

The final plan adopted in 2022 added details such as meeting facilities, a fitness center, canteen, Patriot Store and other “community-serving activities.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Justice Elena Kagan refers to herself as the “frozen yogurt justice” and even had a fro-yo machine installed in the court’s canteen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Money does not change hands among residents, not in its cooperative grocery store nor community canteen.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

You may also choose to purchase other clothing and hygiene items through canteen.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

The department has ordered canteens, hostel kitchens and midday meal suppliers to obtain proper licences, and banned the sale of food high in fat, sugar or salt within 50m of schools.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The ad-hoc canteens range in scale from a single food truck in a parking lot to field kitchens fit for an army.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

At the height of the Cold War, Moscow operated an airport on Svalbard and three mining towns complete with state-of-the-art health facilities and 24-hour canteens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026

Exposing people to positive social norms, using posters in canteens encouraging vegetable consumption, or in bars to discourage dangerous levels of drinking, have been shown to work.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

By night, just about everyone else’s canteens were almost empty.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

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Related Words

• flask
• water bottle

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