victual
Americannoun
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victuals, food supplies; provisions.
-
food or provisions for human beings.
verb (used with object)
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victuals,
present (3rd person singular)
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victualed,
past participle, past
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victualled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
victualing,
present participle
-
victualling
present participle (especially British)
verb (used without object)
-
victuals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
victualed,
past participle, past
-
victualled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
victualing,
present participle
-
victualling
present participle (especially British)
-
to take or obtain victuals.
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Archaic. to eat or feed.
verb
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to supply with or obtain victuals
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rare (intr) (esp of animals) to partake of victuals
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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revictualverb
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unvictualedadjective
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unvictualledadjective
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victual-lessadjective
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victuallessadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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victualsimple
-
victualssimple
-
have victualedperfect
-
have victualledperfect
-
has victualedperfect
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has victualledperfect
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am victualingprogressive
-
am victuallingprogressive
-
are victualingprogressive
-
are victuallingprogressive
-
is victualingprogressive
-
is victuallingprogressive
-
have been victualingperfect progressive
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have been victuallingperfect progressive
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has been victualingperfect progressive
-
has been victuallingperfect progressive
Past
-
victualedsimple
-
victualledsimple
-
had victualedperfect
-
had victualledperfect
-
was victualingprogressive
-
was victuallingprogressive
-
were victualingprogressive
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were victuallingprogressive
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had been victualingperfect progressive
-
had been victuallingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of victual
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English vitaille, from Anglo-French, Middle French vitail(l)e, Old French vituaille, from Late Latin victuālia “provisions,” noun use of neuter plural of Latin victuālis “pertaining to food,” equivalent to victu(s) “nourishment, way of living” ( vic-, variant stem of vīvere “to live” + -tus suffix of verb action) + -ālis -al 1; modern spelling from Latin
Explanation
A victual is anything that can be eaten. Victuals are food. Victual is a fancy word for a very simple thing: any substance that can be used as food. Everything in the food pyramid is a victual, and whatever you eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks are victuals. Words that apply to victuals are eatable and edible. A toddler eating a cigarette butt doesn't quite understand what's a victual and what's not.
Vocabulary lists containing victual
Much Ado About Nothing
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The Secret Garden
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Quartering Act (1765)
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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:
Scholars long thought that the capability to construct and victual a watercraft and then navigate it to a distant coast arrived only with advent of agriculture and animal domestication.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 24, 2018
Finally the ship had so much victual booty that an extra meal was served: afternoon coffee with bonbons.
From Time Magazine Archive
Preachments against war have come to savor strongly of zwieback, a victual which most people can take or leave at will.
From Time Magazine Archive
In 1592, Hideyoshi, founder of the navy, used his ships to land troops in Korea, to victual their beachheads.
From Time Magazine Archive
Indeed I had arrived at my last victual, and had scarce wherewithal to meet the charges of my lodging.
From Idonia: A Romance of Old London by Arthur F. Wallis
Oh, and if you’re on a tight budget, Walmart is your best bet for healthy victuals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
When it’s in the hands of cinematic chef and film critic Justin Chang, the visual victuals can be sumptuous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2022
Now, home cooks follow restaurant chefs, hoping to glean the secrets of serving exceptional victuals.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2022
“It tastes like chewing on a urine-infested mattress,” said Samuel West, who, as curator of the Disgusting Food Museum, knows a thing or two about unpleasant victuals.
From Reuters ● Nov. 2, 2018
If not for Eliza’s fine victuals, and the hungry customers who paid to eat them, we’d have been in the streets long ago.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Buffets of barbecued brisket, ham on the bone and oysters victualed the multitudes as they passed through exhibitions of work by Alexander Calder, Yto Barrada, Peter Hujar and David Hockney.
From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2019
But the Herald Tribune has never found it easy to keep its 62-year-old outpost victualed and supplied.
From Time Magazine Archive
He sent to far kingdoms for woodsmen, carpenters, metalsmiths, goldsmiths—also carters, victualed, clothiers to attend to the workmen—and for weeks their uproar filled the days and nights.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
"But you don't get a company of two hundred horse and horsemen watered and victualed and armed and saddled and started all in a minute. Now: what's our direction? Due North?"
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
Thousands of the villages through which the traveler eats his way may never have victualed a caravan before.
From Library of the World's Best literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 12 by Various
Completely equipped and victualled boats were kept on deck so that they could be lowered to the ice at any moment.
From True Tales of Arctic Heroism in the New World by Adolphus W. Greely
The command of these vessels he gave to a cavalier named Alvarado de Saavedra, and they were abundantly victualled for one year, besides carrying a large quantity of goods for barter.
From The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 2 (of 2) Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain. by Bernal Díaz del Castillo
The frigate Hellas is victualled for two months, four gun-boats have been ordered to be built, and fireships are in progress in addition to those which were already fitted out.
From The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, Vol. II by Thomas Barnes Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald
While she was resting they held a council, and agreed not to renew the attack on the morrow, but recall the troops into the city, which was now well victualled, and there await reinforcements.
From Heroines That Every Child Should Know Tales for Young People of the World's Heroines of All Ages by Various
Victualling.—The first batch of troops sent out was victualled from the Navy Yards, and this practice was partially continued till early in 1900.
From History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government by Great Britain. War Office
We rose early & assembled on the Green, & met there with the rest of the victualing Party.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
The campaign of the Russians against the Turcomans presented two great difficulties; these were the questions of crossing districts in which water was extremely scarce or failed entirely, and of victualing the expeditionary forces.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884 by Various
The French garrison were living upon salted horse-flesh, and you may guess, therefore, at the condition of the civilians' victualing department.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851. by Various
The ships had their magazines filled, their bunkers and oil tanks charged, their victualing completed, and last, but not least, their full crews aboard.
From America's War for Humanity by Thomas Herbert Russell
Meanwhile he gave orders for so much rice and maize to be collected thereabouts, as was necessary for victualing his ships.
From Great Pirate Stories by Joseph Lewis French
Project leaders said it was "an exciting opportunity to examine part of an early victualling yard".
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2022
The following year complaints began to trickle in from victualling yards in the UK and from British seamen around the world that other parts of animals were being found in canned meat.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2013
Did not Annette think that a respectable boarding house or something select in the licensed victualling line might do?
From The Weight of the Crown by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White
The old naval dockyard was shut up in 1869, but the royal victualling yard is still the largest establishment of its kind.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various
At Harwich the inconvenience of a contrary system, a system under which the Post Office undertook its own victualling, was illustrated in a striking manner.
From The History of the Post Office From Its Establishment Down to 1836 by Herbert Joyce
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