mealn.1
/miːl/, U.S. /mil/ 1. † d. of the same meal [probably after post-classical Latin eiusdem farinae (late 15th cent.)] : of the same kind or quality. Obsolete.
a. The edible part of a grain or pulse (now usually one other than wheat) ground to powder or granules. Also: spec. (a) Scottish and Irish English, oatmeal; (b) U.S. and South African, ground maize, maize flour. Cf. boermeal n. at Boer n. Compounds, flour n., mealie-meal n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun]
mealeOE
ferine1538
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxxiv. 93 Ac his swæc ðeah & his cræft gecymð on ælcre ædre, swa swa mon meolo seft.
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. lxi. 134 Genim merce nioþoweardne & hunig & hwætenes meluwes smedman.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1552 Þu sammnesst all þin mele inn an. & cnedest itt to geddre.
?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 45 Nim ȝetemsud melu and bae hym anne cicel of.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 780 (MED) Hise pokes fulle of mele an korn.
a1425 (a1382) Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Corpus Oxf.) Num. v. 15 The tenthe part of a busshel of barly melowe [a1425 L.V. barli meele].
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 331 Meele of corne growndyn, farina.
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) iv. iv. 84 Branne of whete or of rye,..and also sope and meele of beenes wasshe awaye the fylthe of the face and of all the body.
a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 205 As gredy gleddis ȝe gang With polkis to mylne, and beggis baith meill and schilling.
1546 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 179 The untrue and excessyve tollinge of certayne quarters of wheate meale.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 57 The howse for the markyt folke in Newgate market for to waye melle in.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Kings iv. 41 He said, Then bring meale . View more context for this quotation
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) i. 23 Meal of crude and unparched Corn.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) I. 257 Some..feed them with Curds, Barley-meal, Bran, &c.
1775 S. Johnson Journey W. Islands 68 Her two next sons were gone to Inverness to buy meal, by which oatmeal is always meant.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Miller's Daughter viii, in Poems (new ed.) 37 The very air about the door Made misty with the floating meal!
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm I. 137 A third lot was fed on..turnips and bean-meal.
1884 Internat. Health Exhib. Official Catal. ii. 159/1 Chick Pea Meal, Mais Cariaro Meal.
1892 Jrnl. (Grahamstown, S. Afr.) 20 Sept. 1/4 (advt.) Ration Meal, Flour, Mealie Meal, Kafir Corn Meal.
1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song iii. 192 She..sought out the porridge meal and put it to boil, Blawearie's own meal, fine rounded stuff.
1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country iii. v. 243 A simple meal, of tea..and of heavy homely cakes made of the meal of the maize.
1972 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 3 Sept. (Mag.) 11/3 Add 1 teaspoon salt to 1 cup water and boil. Add 2 cups maize meal.
1986 Jrnl. Theol. Stud. 37 i. 202 It all shows how it is possible, as James Denney once said.., to bake a huge cake with very little meal.
b. The finer part of ground grain. Opposed to bran. Frequently figurative. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > fine meal
meal1526
1526 Grete Herball cccxlvi. sig. Tiv Syft ye meale from the branne, and put therto .x. tymes as moche water.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 47v I haue thorowly sifted the disposition of youth, wherein I haue founde more branne then meale, more dowe then leauen.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. i. 324 He..is ill-school'd In boulted Language: Meale and Bran together He throwes without distinction. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. ii. 27 Nature hath Meale, and Bran; Contempt, and Grace. View more context for this quotation
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 326 The Devils meale is halfe branne.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 144 My next Difficulty was to make a Sieve, or Search, to dress my Meal, and to part it from the Bran, and the Husk.
1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss I. ii. ii. 298 Wakem knows meal from bran.
1999 E. Bartnikowska in S. S. Cho et al. Complex Carbohydrates in Foods vii. 54 Oat preparations (meal, bran) rich in beta-glucans.
c. Contrasted with malt (see malt n.1 2a): food (as opposed to drink). Now figurative in in meal or in malt and variants: in one form or another.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > [noun] > edible material or part
victualc1374
meat?a1425
mealc1547
esculent1633
edible1661
edule1699
scran1808
c1547 Vox Populi i, in J. Skelton Poet. Wks. II. 401 Nother malte nor meale,..mylke nor kele.
c1572 G. Gascoigne Fruites Warre in Wks. (1907) I. 171 Here with we had..Nor meale, nor malt, nor meane..to get such geare if once we should be shut.
1698 J. Dunton Let. in MS Rawl. D. 71 v. f. 19 One [pox] had disfigured his face, and curing the other had emaciated his body, and you'l say with me yt such an one might verie well endeavour wth meale to compensate for the deficiencies of his mault.
1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) II. 119 For meal and mawt thou disna want.
1881 W. Gregor Notes Folk-lore N.-E. Scotl. 161 We sing for meal, we sing for maut.
1892 19th Cent. Aug. 344 If they [sc. the Unionists] wish to get the working-class vote they have got to pay for it, either in meal or in malt.
1940 W. S. Churchill in Second World War (1949) II. ii. xxvii. 477 I am much obliged to you for telegraphing..to General Wavell. He must provide in meal or in malt: (a) Three or four thousand additional British troops and a dozen guns [etc.].
1973 R. E. Megarry Second Miscellany-at-law iii. 247 The familiar forensic phrase ‘in meal or in malt’ is old in the law.
ΚΠ
1611 B. Jonson Catiline iv. sig. I3v Except he were of the same meale, and batch. View more context for this quotation
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. 155 Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventura, and others of the same meal did many and wonderful things at Paris.
2.
a. Any powder produced by grinding; a powdery substance resembling flour. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > state of being powdery > state of being like meal > mealy substance
mealeOE
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xxxi. 72 Genim heorotes sceafoþan of þam horne oþþe þæs hornes melo.
1526 Grete Herball clxxiii. sig. Liv/2 Sethe meale of fenegreke with water that malowes was soden in.
1549 in Acts Privy Council (1890) II. 348 Brymston in meale, ij barrelles.
1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 14 Take fyne mustard sede mele.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. xiv. 71 Serpentine powder in old time was in meale, but now corned.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 538 The bee transports the fertilizing meal From flow'r to flow'r.
1796 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) II. 436 The arsenic rises in the form of a white meal.
1796 C. R. Hopson tr. C. P. Thunberg Trav. (ed. 3) II. 135 I heard..of..a large and succulent root, called Kou by the Hottentots, who grind it down to meal, and bake it like bread.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 767/1 The alum is thrown down as a finely-divided precipitate of alum meal.
1978 S. Afr. Panorama May 37 After the bones were cleared away and the cattle fed with fresh bonemeal, the incidence of paralysis dropped... The meal also cured ‘stywesiekte’ (stiff sickness).
b. Botany. A whitish powder covering the surface of the leaves, stems, etc., of certain plants. Now rare. Cf. mealy adj. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > appearance of plant > defined by texture > [noun] > powderiness granulation or powder
mealiness1609
meal1744
granulation1796
pulverescence1828
1744 J. Thomson Spring in Seasons (new ed.) 25 Auriculas, enrich'd With shining Meal o'er all their velvet Leaves.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 300 [Primula farinosa] Glabrous above, meal below white or sulphur-coloured.
1992 Daily Tel. 7 Mar. (Weekend Suppl.) p. v/1 Some plants had a more pronounced tendency than others to cover themselves with a dust that became known as the ‘meal’.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
(a)
meal-bag n.
ΚΠ
1638 in J. S. Moore Clifton & Westbury Probate Inventories (1981) 74 Of the goods in the halle..on erthen steene..two meal baggs.
1738 in H. H. Metcalf & O. G. Hammond Probate Rec. New Hampsh. (1914) II. 622 He knows of no meal Bag that his son had but what he borrowed of him.
1876 Wide Awake 72/1 She was bundled up so you would hardly have known her from one of the meal-bags.
1985 William & Mary Q. 42 32 Until the spread of black stem rust in the early 1660s, wheat was the customary European grain stored in the meal chests and bags.
meal-barrel n.
ΚΠ
1569 Protocol Bks. T. Johnsoun (1920) 165 Ane meilebarrell.
1873 J. W. Bear Life & Trav. 233 I had once read of a rat that went to the top of a meal barrel and looked down into, and saw plenty of good meal at the bottom.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. at Cush The crumbs and scrapings of cracker or meal-barrels, fried with grease.
meal chest n. chiefly U.S.
ΚΠ
1555 Inventory 18 Nov. in R. W. Ambler et al. Farmers & Fishermen (1987) 51 One whealle two tubbs and a mele cheste.
1738 New Hampsh. Probate Rec. in New Hampsh. Provinc. & State Papers (1914) XXXII. 622 The Meal Chest he Says he knows nothing to the Contrary but What it is left where it was when his son Died.
1840 J. Buel Farmer's Compan. (ed. 2) 65 The meal-chest must be occasionally replenished.
1985 William & Mary Q. 42 32 Until the spread of black stem rust in the early 1660s, wheat was the customary European grain stored in the meal chests and bags.
meal-drift n.
ΚΠ
1877 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 70 What lovely behaviour Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?
meal-dust n.
ΚΠ
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 175 v (MED) Farine volatilis molendini i. mylne meledust or of whete.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xxix. A For the multitude of thine enemies shalbe like mealdust.
1887 A. Carey in A. Carey & P. Carey Early & Late Poems 280 Little Peter Got out of his bed—The curls, bright as meal-dust, All over his head.
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 101 Meal-dust hung from every nail, peg, and rope-end on the walls.
meal farm n.
ΚΠ
1747 F. Dawney Let. 9 June in A. Bisset Mems. & Papers Sir A. Mitchell (1850) I. ii. 30 In my last I told you in what manner the Abdn. Governours had disposed of your Meal Farms of crop, 1745.
meal-husk n.
ΚΠ
1839 T. Carlyle Chartism v. 45 Peasants living on meal-husks and boiled grass.
meal-market n.
ΚΠ
1477 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1869) I. 35 Alsa the mele merket of all grane and cornes fra the Tolbuth vp to Libertons Wynde.
1555–6 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1871) II. 366 For the irnis at the kirk dur, meill merkat, flesche merkat.
1705 London Gaz. No. 4169/3 They intend to Let to Farm the Tolls..of the Meal-Market at Fleet-Chanel.
1822 J. Galt Provost xiii. 100 The wives that went to the meal-market, came back railing.
1973 Jrnl. Econ. Lit. 11 1409/1 The exposition about oil versus meal markets set against world geography deserves an appreciative audience.
meal-merchant n.
ΚΠ
1798 Philadelphia Directory 29 Buckley Isaac, meal merchant, 389, north front st.
1880 Littell's Living Age 15 May 409 Whenever there is a good potato crop it supplies them with food during the greater part of the year; during the remainder they have recourse to the meal-merchant.
meal-mill n. Scottish
ΚΠ
1656 S. Holland Don Zara ii. i. 64 Stones farre bigger then those belonging to Meal-Mills, wer ejected with horrible fragours.
1692 in J. Robertson Illustr. Topogr. & Antiq. Aberdeen & Banff (1857) III. 25 With the fullers mill..and..the meal mill.
1793 State, Leslie of Powis 67 (Jam.) A small island lying between the meal-mill race, and the north grain of the river.
1980 D. K. Cameron Willie Gavin xxii. 210 Isolated outposts where the meal-mill once stood.
meal pap n.
ΚΠ
1799 Underwood's Syst. Med. (ed. 4) I. 154 Violent convulsions, which disappeared entirely, upon the prohibition of meal-pap.
1979 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 39 541 Infant mortality was closely linked to artificial feeding (thick meal pap given to children almost immediately after birth).
meal-poke n.
ΚΠ
a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. E3v Sairie be your meil poke, and ay your neive in the nook of it.
a1795 Robin Hood & Beggar v, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. 160 His meal-pock hang about his neck, Into a leathern fang.
1989 Scots Mag. June 261 Perhaps we should have set our sights lower, like the beggars who carried a modest meal-poke in the hope that a kindly cottar-wife might spare enough from her girnel to fill it.
meal-sack n.
ΚΠ
a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) 2032 (MED) Þat da he kest þan in his nek, Als it war a mele-sek.
1679 T. D'Urfey Squire Oldsapp v. iv. 64 One of 'em stands there in the Pantry ty'd up in a Meal-Sack—and another sits sneaking in a Corner of the Wash-house.
1820 W. Scott Monastery III. xii. 345 It is always best to be sure, as I say when I chance to take multure twice from the same meal-sack.
1979 W. Heath Robinson Illustr. Story Bk. 42/1 The town elders..sat in state on a bench covered in black meal-sacks.
meal shop n.
ΚΠ
1648 Perfect Weekly Acct. No. 26 sig. Bb4v The Meal shops in London hold up their old price.
1873 Overland Monthly Nov. 413/1 In the Rotterdam meal-shops, not a speck of flour is seen save where it belongs.
1901 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 234 The sign of the Provincial Bank of Ireland almost faces our windows; and although it is used as a meal shop the rest of the week, they tell us that two thousand pounds in money is needed there on Fair days.
meal sieve n.
ΚΠ
1362 in J. Raine Inventories & Acct. Rolls Benedictine Houses Jarrow & Monk-Wearmouth (1854) 159 (MED) In bracina..j melsyf.
1624 Fairfax Inventory in Archaeologia (1884) 48 148 A meale sive.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 215 After grinding the sharps, I took them home and sifted them with a common meal sieve.
1916 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 22 59 Tennessee [in its legal code, 1896 (section 3794)] enumerates exemptions under seventy-nine heads, naming such things as one bread tray, one meal sieve, two gourds, two punger gourds [etc.].
meal tax n.
ΚΠ
1848 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 11 27 The meal tax levied in the towns shows a consumption for all ages not exceeding 3.8 scheffels, of 80lbs. weight.
1907 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 21 482 For the purpose of raising auxiliaries, a weekly meal tax..was levied for six years during the Commonwealth period.
meal-trough n.
ΚΠ
1623 J. Minsheu Dict. Spanish & Eng. (at cited word) A Meale trough, harinal.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 100 The buckets, dipping into the meal-trough, convey the flour to the upper story.
(b)
meal-dusty adj.
ΚΠ
1951 W. de la Mare Winged Chariot 40 Meal-dusty polls, glossed plumage.
meal-white adj.
ΚΠ
1938 W. de la Mare Memory & Other Poems 95 This meal-white snow.
b. Objective.
meal-dealer n.
ΚΠ
1796 Philadelphia Directory 2 Acker Michael, meal dealer, 402, No. Third st.
1893 Littell's Living Age 27 May 560 A young and rather good-looking woman of fair complexion, and, like her husband, of the Bunyia, or meal-dealer caste.
meal-miller n. Scottish
ΚΠ
1892 R. Lovett J. Gilmour of Mongolia i. 18 Our maternal grandfather..was a farmer and meal-miller on the estate of Cathkin.
meal-monger n. [earliest attested in a surname]
ΚΠ
1288 in G. Fransson Middle Eng. Surnames (1935) 60 Gilb. Le Mellemongere [1296 le Melemongere].
1428 in H. C. Maxwell-Lyte Inquisitions & Assessm. Feudal Aids (1908) V. 249 (MED) Willelmus Melmanger.
1766 A. Nicol Poems Several Subj. 165 Just like a covetous meal-monger.
a1866 W. Anderson Rhymes (1867) 213 To have purchased from a mealmonger during the week would have implied improvidence.
meal-seller n.
ΚΠ
1538 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1871) II. 92 That na maner of regratouris, meill sellares..haif furlottis to mett in the meill merket.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Mealeman or meale-seller, suffarraneus.
1676 Kirkcudbright Town Council Rec. 3 June in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Actiounes..aganest meill selleris.
1838 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 1 410 The intermediate profits of retail dealers, meal-sellers, and bakers, are saved to the consumer.
meal-sifter n.
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Mealesifter, pollintor.
1656 Court Proc. in J. H. Pleasants Arch. Maryland (1937) LIV. 80 A Lest of The houshould stufe... 2 Meall sefters.
1735 in William & Mary Q. (1939) 19 321 [Inventory of personal estate of Cornelius Vaughan] 3 meal sifters & one search..4 [shillings].
meal-weigher n.
ΚΠ
1584–5 Acct. in B. R. Masters Chamber Accts. 16th Cent. (1984) (modernized text) xx. 49 John Evans mealweigher.
1671 F. Philipps Regale Necessarium 363 Three Meal-Weighers.
1812 Examiner 19 Oct. 662/2 The Lord Mayor, after inspecting the Meal Weighers Return,..ordered the price of Bread to fall 3d. in the peck-loaf.
C2. † meal-bark n. Obsolete any of certain cycads, esp. Cycas circinalis, so called on account of the starchy matter present in the trunk.† meal fat n. [see fat n.1 3] Obsolete a barrel for holding meal.† meal-malt n. Obsolete malt ground to a powder, as for use in distilling.† meal mite n. Obsolete the flour mite, Acarus siro.† meal-powder n. Obsolete finely ground gunpowder.† mealtree n. U.S. Obsolete = mealy tree n. at mealy adj. Compounds 3.
meal-ark n. British regional a large wooden bin for storing meal.
ΚΠ
1540 Acta Dominorum Concilii et Sessionis XIII. f. 119v Ane fles fatt ane meill ark.
1594 in F. Collins Wills & Admin. Knaresborough Court Rolls (1902) I. 199 One meale arke.
1714 W. Plummer Let. 29 Jan. in V. Jacob Lairds of Dun (1931) xii. 241 Ane meikle old meal ark.
1941 T. Mullins Autobiogr. in J. Burnett Useful Toil (1974) i. 66 Hams..after being hung up to dry..were put in the ‘meal ark’, a great oak chest nine feet long and a yard wide, in which the oatmeal was kept.
1990 P. Muldoon Madoc ii. 31 The rip-saw, sundry axes, Some boxes Of sea-salt, the cast-iron skillet, The meal-ark,..Go smattering into the void.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > sago palm or fern-palm
sago1555
sago-tree1681
sago-palm1769
meal-bark1822
fern-palm1884
nut palm1889
sacsac1947
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. I. 4 The..meal-bark (cycas circinalis).
meal-beetle n. a mealworm beetle, esp. Tenebrio molitor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Heteromera > family Tenebrionidae > tenebrio molitor (flour-beetle)
meal-beetle1839
mealworm beetle1840
flour-beetle1888
1839 G. Newport in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. II. 863/2 The meal-beetles, Tenebrionidæ.
1989 Toxicon 27 305 Immobilizing and lethal effects of the venoms obtained from six spider species..were tested on..Tenebrio molitor (common mealbeetle).
mealberry n. North American the red bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi.
ΚΠ
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 727/1 Meal-berry, Arctostaphylos uva ursi.
1924 Amer. Botanist 30 13 The rather large bright red and attractive fruits are devoid of juice which accounts for [the names] ‘meal-berry’ and ‘meal-plum’.
1976 Hortus Third (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 101/1 [Arctostaphylos] Uva-ursi (L.) K. Spreng. Common b[earberry], mealberry, hog cranberry, kinnikinick.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > barrel or cask > [noun] > for specific contents
meal fat1360
butter barrel1608
beer-barrel1753
water breaker1834
blubber-cask1835
nail-keg1837
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > barrel or cask > [noun] > for non-liquids
meal fat1360
dryfat1526
yoting vat1543
vat1766
slack barrel1877
slack cask1877
1360 in J. Raine Charters Priory Finchale (1837) p. lii (MED) In Celario..j melefatt.
1662 G. Torriano 2nd Alphabet Proverbial Phrases 138/1 Par del pedocchio, i.e. cascato nella tramoggia credersi mugnaio, to do as a louse did, viz. when he fell into the meal-fat, thought himself a Miller.
meal-girnel n. Scottish a chest for storing meal.
ΚΠ
1548 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 259 Thre meill girnalis, out of my loft, xxx s.
1734 in Proc. Orkney Antiquarian Soc. (1923) 1 65 Imprimis two sufficient meall Girnels.
1980 D. K. Cameron Willie Gavin xi. 106 But it was the meal girnal..that was the most crucial piece of furnishing, as it had been for centuries.
meal-house n. now historical a place where meal is stored.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [noun] > granary
corn-housec1000
meal-houseOE
garnerc1175
grangec1384
girnel1452
graner1531
garnery1552
granary1570
grainel1608
corn-crib1716
golah1762
grain-elevator1852
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 238 Farinale, mealehus.
c1330 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1901) III. 518 In 1 sera empt. pro le Melhous 3d.
1577 N. Breton Floorish vpon Fancie sig. Dv The Pastrie, Meale house, and the roome wheras the Coales do ly.
1739 Boston Rec. 214 Voted, That there be no Person specially Appointed to give Attendance at the North Granary or Meal-House.
1978 A. Fenton Northern Isles xli. 333 Meal was stored in a lockable meal-house, pending shipment, and appears to have been carried in bags of coarse linen.
meal-kist n. Scottish a chest for storing meal.
ΚΠ
1581 Edinb. Test. IX. f. 104, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mele Ane of my mele kistis.
1649 Edinb. Test. LXIV. f. 271v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Mele Ane great meill kist, ane beir kist, ane candill kist.
1756 in A. Pennecuik et al. Coll. Scots Poems 136 Soon he abstracted multures mist, That wrang'd his trade; Wi' which he fill'd his awn meal-kist, But now he's dead.
1856 J. Aiton Clerical Econ. (ed. 2) v. 304 Muck is the mother of the meal-kist.
1922 Jedburgh Gaz. 22 Aug. 3 The store cupboard is the great meal kist in the corner.
meal-maker n. a miller; also in extended use.Recorded earliest as a surname.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > [noun] > miller
millwardeOE
millerOE
meal-maker1274
windmillward1314
dusty-poll?1518
mill-yemer1530
water miller1533
windmiller1533
pikeman1551
milleress1680
corn-grinder1841
1274 in G. Fransson Middle Eng. Surnames (1935) 58 (MED) Adam le Melemakere.
a1400 in L. T. Smith York Plays (1885) Introd. p. xl Mele-makers.
1419 in F. Collins Reg. Freemen York (1897) I. 127 (MED) Thomas Gybbe, melemaker.
1794 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XII. 56 The quantities of grain..sold from this parish, at Eyemouth, Berwick, and to meal~makers..are very considerable.
1941 Mod. Lang. Notes 56 539 Ǫkuþor, whose hammer Mjǫllnir (meal-maker, or miller!) bruised many a skull.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > malting > [noun] > malt > fine particles of
smitham1625
meal-malt1702
grist1822
1702 O. Heywood Autobiogr., Diaries, Anecd. & Event Bks. (1885) IV. 293 Mr. Oats man with meal-malt.
ΚΠ
1869 V. Penny Think & Act 372 The miller is subject to an eruption produced by the attacks of the meal mite, and some bakers suffer from the baker's itch.
1892 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Meal Meal mite, the Acarus farinæ.
meal-Monday n. a Monday given as a holiday in some Scottish universities, said to have originated for the purpose of allowing students to go home to fetch enough oatmeal to last till the end of the session.
ΚΠ
1895 College Echoes (St. Andrews Univ.) 6 169 Monday last was observed as a general holiday in the University... It would have been a great pity had ‘Meal Monday’ passed without due observance.
1982 Daily Tel. 7 Dec. 12 In my day at Glasgow University we still had, in the long term, an extra Monday holiday known as ‘Meal Monday’.
meal moth n. any of several small pyralid moths which infest mills, granaries, etc., and whose larvae feed on meal or flour, esp. Pyralis farinalis and (more fully Indian meal moth) Plodia interpunctella.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Pyralidae > genus Pyralis > pyralis farinalis (flour-moth)
meal moth1842
flour-moth1893
1842 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects Injurious to Vegetation (1862) 475 The meal-moth (Pyralis farinalis).
1944 R. Matheson Entomol. for Introd. Courses xiv. 298 The Indian-meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) and the Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kühniella) are serious pests.
1971 Nature 17 Dec. 415/2 Our tests were conducted with the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) and the almond moth Cadra cautella (Walker), both phycitid species.
1992 N.Y. Times 29 Dec. c1/3 The Indian meal moth..[has] developed resistance to B.t. toxins.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > explosive for use with firearms > in specific form or state
corn-powder1562
train1587
meal-powder1782
green charge1825
gunpowder cake1839
mill-cake1839
presscake1839
pellet powder1868
prismatic powder1869
pebble powder1870
pebble1872
prismatic1894
1782 Philos. Trans. 1781 (Royal Soc.) 71 260 Meal-powder is more inflammable than that which is grained.
a1898 H. Bessemer Autobiogr. (1905) x. 132 These holes were tightly rammed with damp meal powder, and on firing the gun..the powder became ignited.
1950 Math. Tables & Other Aids Computation 4 190 Discussion of air conditions, angles of fire, calibres of guns, and meal-powder additions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > viburnums or guelder rose and allies > [noun]
bendwithc1440
opier1548
opulus1548
ople1551
dwarf plane tree1578
water elder1578
whitten1578
guelder rose1597
rose elder1597
wayfaring man's tree1597
wayfaring tree1597
opiet1601
cotton tree1633
viorne1637
mealy tree1640
laurustinus1664
stinking tree1681
black haw1688
laurel-thyme1693
laurustine1693
viburnum1731
wayfaring shrub1731
May rose1753
pembina1760
snowball tree1760
mealtree1785
stink-tree1795
cherry-wood1821
snowball1828
sloe1846
withe-rod1846
lithy-tree1866
nannyberry1867
king's crown1879
stag bush1884
snowball bush1931
1785 M. Cutler in Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1 430 Viburnum foliis cordatis serratis subtus tomemtosis. Mealtree. Blossoms white. Berries black.
1796 Cutler in J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 338 Mealtree (Viburnum Lantana).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
mealn.2
/miːl/, U.S. /mil/ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > [noun] > a measure
mealeOE
metlOE
metea1871
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xlv. 110 Do wines þrie mel on & sele drincan.
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. vi. 184 Finoles sædes, & diles þreo cucler mæl.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1086 Se þe wæs ærur rice cyng & maniges landes hlaford, he næfde þa ealles landes buton seofon fotmæl.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xxv. 25 A..coroun with foure fynger-mele heyȝt [a1425 L.V. foure fyngris hiȝ; L. altam].
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 154 Al maner wounde þat is maad in þe extremitiees [read of] þe lacertis as iij fyngir mele brede vndir þe schuldris.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > particular time > [noun]
sitheeOE
tidec897
timeeOE
mealeOE
whilec950
throwOE
charec1000
stevenOE
timeOE
seasona1300
tempest1382
world1389
occasionc1425
tidement1575
period1602
minute1607
hinta1670
epoch1728
eOE Metres of Boethius (transcript of damaged MS) xxii. 65 Mid þæm bisgum þe on breostum styreð mon on mode mæla gehwylce.
OE Resignation B 93 Ond him ælce mæle men fullestað, ycað his yrmþu.
OE Beowulf 316 Mæl is me to feran.
OE Genesis A (1931) 1719 þa þæs mæles wæs mearc agongen þæt him Abraham idese brohte, wif to hame.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xxix. 52 (MED) He..knew here Synneng Everydel, Wheche was to hem A sory Mel.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Merlin (1904) I. l. 2754 Also sone as the dragouns to-gyderes fele, be-twixen hem schal be-gynnen a sory mele.
a1450 York Plays (1885) 467 (MED) What mene ȝe..To make mournyng at ilk a mele?
a1500 Alexander-Cassamus (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Munich) (1911) 294 (MED) Of al the day thurwe-owte, kepe I no better mele Than on hir to t[h]ynke.
a1500 in H. Sandison Chanson d'Aventure in Middle Eng. (1913) 109 (MED) And thyn wer dede..Thou cowth well wepe at euery mele.
a1577 G. Gascoigne Grief of Joye i. xxix, in Compl. Wks. (1910) II. 522 The heavens on highe perpetually doe move By mynutes meale, the howre dothe steale awaie.
3. [Originally a specific use of sense 2.]
a. A customary or social occasion of taking food, esp. at a more or less fixed time of day, as breakfast, dinner, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun]
mealeOE
meatshiplOE
meal of meatc1330
meal's meatc1330
refectiona1425
eating1483
mealtide1485
repasc1485
sustenancea1500
breakfast1526
repast1530
recreation1538
cooking1804
eat1844
scoff1846
grub1857
khana1859
meetsuk1896
nosh1964
trough1981
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > main meal or dinner
mealeOE
dinnerc1325
dinea1425
Christmas dinner1581
Sunday dinner1602
corporation dinner1732
Russian dinner1805
boiled dinner1823
pickup1848
Robin Dinner1877
course-dinner1895
shore dinner1895
din-din1905
gala dinner1934
TV dinner1952
working dinner1956
steak dinnera1964
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Tiber.) (Junius transcript) (1871) xliii. 316 Ne fæst se no Gode ac him selfum, se þe ðæt nyle ðearfum sellan ðæt he ðonne on mæle læfð, ac wile hit healdan eft to oðrum mæle, ðæt he eft mæge his wambe gefyllan.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 31 (MED) He wule festen and eaten, ȝif he mei, et ane mele swa muchel swa et twam.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 220 Bitweone mel ne gru[ch]esi ȝe nawt, nowðer frut ne oðerhwet.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9825 Ælche dæie on a mæl ure mete trukeð.
c1300 St. Mary Magdalen (Laud) 232 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 469 (MED) Þo it was time of mele, huy wenden to heore mete.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. 720 I have at every meel Of plente more than ynowh.
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 21 (MED) He to prey for my soule at euery meel, mete or sopeer.
1487 Dietary (St. John's Cambr.) 67 in J. Barbour Bruce (1877) 540 Betuix malys drink nocht for na plesand delit.
c1500 King & Hermit in M. M. Furrow Ten 15th-cent. Comic Poems (1985) 264 I..haue hade many mery mele.
1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance xxiii. f. 45v There shoulde be at the leaste .vi. houres betwene euery meale.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 61 They give good fare for foure grosh a meale.
1693 W. Penn Some Fruits of Solitude §59. 23 Rarely drink but when thou art dry; nor then, between Meals, if it can be avoided.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. ii Whether they meet..at Meals, Tea, or Visits.
1778 F. Burney Evelina I. xviii. 119 Our breakfast was the most agreeable meal..that we have had since we came to town.
1836 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion ii. i. 184 Meals ought to be early or late in proportion to the habits of the individual.
1897 W. Rye Songs Norfolk 25 ‘He don't like working between meals’ is a succinct description of a lazy man.
1924 P. G. Wodehouse Bill the Conqueror 22 Breakfast was never a popular meal with those who had enjoyed overnight the hospitality of Judson Coker.
1963 Listener 10 Jan. 73/1 There are increasing numbers of hotels..called pensionnats. These differ from regular hotels in providing only the bare facilities of rooms and meals.
1992 N. Bhattacharya Hem & Football xi. 145 Mother-in-law begged her to stay for the midnoon meal but Mother wouldn't even touch the tea and the sweetmeats I offered her.
b. Any occasion of taking food; the food and drink consumed at or provided for such an occasion. Also in extended and figurative use.
ΚΠ
OE Homily: Sermo ad Populum Dominicis Diebus (Lamb. 489) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 293 On þam dæge he gereordade æt anum mæle fif þusend manna.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4959 Ȝiff itt iss i þin herrte To shunenn..derewurrþe mæless.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1484 Ðe fader luuede esau wel For firme birðe & swete mel.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 4204 (MED) He wole þe limemele To drawe & uorsuolwe par auenture at one mele.
c1410 (c1350) Gamelyn (Harl. 7334) 636 (MED) He was sore alonged after a good meel.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 73 (MED) Þey schulde come in to þe feeld noȝt fastyng, bot yfed wiþ a mesurable meel.
a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 246 (MED) Þe litel ȝonge infawnte Nicolas helde hym content with oo mele at the pappes.
1607 B. Jonson Volpone v. ii. sig. L3 O, 'twill afford me a rare meale of laughter. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 75 Vnquiet meales make ill digestions. View more context for this quotation
1744 J. Thomson Summer in Seasons (new ed.) 97 Their mangled Limbs Crashing at once, he dyes the purple Seas With Gore, and riots in the vengeful Meal.
1772 C. Jenner Town Eclogues ii. 8 When..cits take in their weekly meal of air.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. xii. 161 I had finished my meal, which did not take long, for want of ammunition.
1857 E. L. Birkett Bird's Urinary Deposits (ed. 5) 274 The earthy phosphates are always abundant after a meal.
1902 T. M. Lindsay Church & Ministry in Early Centuries ii. 51 They ate together a meal which they themselves provided.
1905 E. Wharton House of Mirth i. xiv. 258 His façade is a complete architectural meal.
1937 A. J. Cronin Citadel ii. vii. 155 It was a simple but beautifully set out meal—a cup of hot bouillon stood waiting on each plate and this was followed by a chicken salad.
1987 R. Ingalls End of Trag. 158 He'd suggest going out for a meal and a film.
4.
a. The quantity of milk given by a cow, etc., at one milking; (also) a milking. See also two-meal adj. (a) at two adj., n., and adv. Compounds 2. Now rare (English regional).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > dairy farming > [noun] > milking > milking time
meal1670
1613 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals I. iv. 75 Each shepheards daughter with her cleanly Peale, Was come afield to milke the Mornings meale.
1615 G. Markham Eng. Hus-wife in Countrey Contentments 118 If you will make Cheese of two meales, as your mornings new milke, and the euenings Creame milk,..you shall doe but the same.
1670 J. Smith England's Improvem. Reviv'd 176 Northern Milch Cows, one of the least of which shall give 2 Gallons of Milk at one Meal.
1775 S. Johnson Journey W. Islands 187 A single meal of a goat is a quart.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 58 It may be fitted up with such..coolers as are sufficient to contain a meal's milk.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 459 The milk drawn from the udder at one milking, or meal, as it is termed.
1887 T. Darlington Folk-speech S. Cheshire Two meals of milk are, on an average-sized Cheshire farm, used to make one cheese in the summer.
b. A stage in cheese-making (see quot. 1831). rare. Perhaps Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1794 Darke in W. Marshall Rev. Rep. to Board Agric. from Western Dept. Eng. (1810) II. 373 Where they make the skim cheese, the land is deemed too rich for one meal.
1831 J. Morton Gloucestershire Vale-farm 33 in Farm-rep. The cheeses pass through the three presses in this order, advancing a step in their progress at each ‘meal’ or making.
Phrases
P1. meal's meat (also meal of meat) = sense 3b. Now regional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun]
mealeOE
meatshiplOE
meal of meatc1330
meal's meatc1330
refectiona1425
eating1483
mealtide1485
repasc1485
sustenancea1500
breakfast1526
repast1530
recreation1538
cooking1804
eat1844
scoff1846
grub1857
khana1859
meetsuk1896
nosh1964
trough1981
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 6845 (MED) A meles mete ȝif þou me.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xvi. 36 Crauede..A meles mete for a poure man.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 331 Meel of mete.., commestio.
a1500 (a1400) Sir Cleges (Adv.) (1930) 353 (MED) For my labor schall i nott get But yt be a melys mete.
1511 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) p. cxviii Sir Robert Plomton..paid for every maile of meate..iiijd for himselfe, & iid for his servant.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 454/2 In this sence I fynde also je inuite but properly to a meales meate, or to eate.
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Honest Mans Fortune ii. iii, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Vuuuu/2 You never yet had a meales meat from my Table.
1693 J. Dryden in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xiv. 292 King Saturn..gave this Example by making a Meals-meat of his own Children.
1717 Entertainer No. 6. 36 The Parasite may smell a Feast at C—t, and go flatter Some-body there for a Meals-meat.
1780 S. Lee Chapter of Accidents iv. 75 I do verily think my turn wull cuome next;—cant zleep n my bed for thinking on't, nor enjoy a meal's meat.
1828 C. Lamb Barbara S—— in Elia 2nd Ser. 130 Enough to say, that her Saturday's pittance was the only chance of a Sunday's, (generally their only,) meal of meat.
1880 Yorkshireman 74 They wor as gooid as a meal's meyt tul him.
1900 A. McIlroy By Lone Craig-linnie Burn 30 A' hae niver known what it was tae be ailin, or miss a male's meat.
1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes & Knowes 10 If there was a mael o meat ti be bocht.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 182/1 Meal's-meat, a meal; enough for a meal.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 17622 Wald þon me leif freind te seme For to cum wit us to mele.
1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie (1636) i. iii. 205 They which fast may goe to meale at ten, eleven, or twelve of the clocke.
P3. at meal: at table, at mealtimes; dining. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [adverb] > at meals
at (the) meateOE
at mealc1400
at tablec1400
at meat and meal1599
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. i. 24 Mete at meel for myseise of þiselue.
a1450 Castle Perseverance (1969) l. 258 But if mans Flesch fare wel Bot[h]e at mete and at mel, Dyth I am in gret del.
1533 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe 42 b For moche abundance of drinke at meale, drowneth the meate eaten.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Accubare apud aliquem, to be at the table in a mans house: to sitte at meale with him.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta viii. 185 The wholesomnesse of wine..moderately taken at meale..is..well knowne.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 235. ⁋3 It was an unspeakable Pleasure to visit or sit at Meal in that Family.
1808 M. G. Lewis Tales of Terror (ed. 2) 76 Yet oft have I seen you, when hungry at meal, 'On a dead bullock's heart gaze with tender delight.
1876 W. Morris First Foray of Aristomenes in Two Sides of River 17 The pillared house, through whose court-gates flung wide Came sound of folk at meal in hot noontide.
P4. to make a (also one's) meal on (also upon): to devour, to feed on. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > eat voraciously
forswallowOE
gulch?c1225
afretea1350
moucha1350
glop1362
gloup1362
forglut1393
worrya1400
globbec1400
forsling1481
slonk1481
franch1519
gull1530
to eat up1535
to swallow up1535
engorge1541
gulp1542
ramp1542
slosh1548
raven1557
slop1575
yolp1579
devour1586
to throw oneself on1592
paunch1599
tire1599
glut1600
batten1604
frample1606
gobbet1607
to make a (also one's) meal on (also upon)a1616
to make a (also one's) meal of1622
gorge1631
demolish1639
gourmanda1657
guttle1685
to gawp up1728
nyam1790
gamp1805
slummock1808
annihilate1815
gollop1823
punish1825
engulf1829
hog1836
scoff1846
brosier1850
to pack away1855
wolf1861
locust1868
wallop1892
guts1934
murder1935
woof1943
pelicana1953
pig1979
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. i. 119 O thou mine heire..what strange fish Hath made his meale on thee? View more context for this quotation
1728 W. Byrd Jrnl. 2 Oct. in Hist. Dividing Line (1929) 165 Poor Puss was unhappily making a Meal on a Fox Squirrel.
a1790 B. Franklin Autobiogr. (1981) 24 I had made many a Meal on Bread.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxix. 332 Once or twice, when our bullocks failed..we were obliged to make a meal upon dry bread and water.
P5. to make a (also †one's) meal of:
a. To consume as a meal, to devour; (in extended use) to take advantage of, exploit, ravage, etc. See also make v.1 49.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > eat voraciously
forswallowOE
gulch?c1225
afretea1350
moucha1350
glop1362
gloup1362
forglut1393
worrya1400
globbec1400
forsling1481
slonk1481
franch1519
gull1530
to eat up1535
to swallow up1535
engorge1541
gulp1542
ramp1542
slosh1548
raven1557
slop1575
yolp1579
devour1586
to throw oneself on1592
paunch1599
tire1599
glut1600
batten1604
frample1606
gobbet1607
to make a (also one's) meal on (also upon)a1616
to make a (also one's) meal of1622
gorge1631
demolish1639
gourmanda1657
guttle1685
to gawp up1728
nyam1790
gamp1805
slummock1808
annihilate1815
gollop1823
punish1825
engulf1829
hog1836
scoff1846
brosier1850
to pack away1855
wolf1861
locust1868
wallop1892
guts1934
murder1935
woof1943
pelicana1953
pig1979
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 274 On the Saturdayes, we alwaies made our meales of Mondongo's.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. III. 9 Thus I doe but tast of that whereof you make full meales.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. vi. i. sig. Mm7 To..make his whole Meal of what was meant onely for Sauce, to give a Rellish to what he rejects for it.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure I. 206 I should have thought any one much out of taste, that could not have made a hearty meal of such a morsel as nature seem'd to have design'd for [etc.].
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time II. viii. 136 Slander..early rose, And made most hellish meals of good men's names.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch III. lvii. 266 It was a little too provoking..that this blooming youngster should flourish on the disappointments of sadder and wiser people—making a meal of a nightingale.
1941 J. Harding I like Brazil xxix. 312 You can sit down and make quite a meal of feijoada.
1972 J. Eastwood Henry in Silver Frame xxiii. 191 I wouldn't want the gutter-press to make a meal of me.
1994 New Scientist 12 Nov. 6/1 Oviraptor, first discovered apparently making a meal of another dinosaur's eggs, was, it now turns out, simply trying to hatch its own offspring.
b. figurative. To treat with undue fuss or attention, esp. for effect; to make (a task, etc.) unduly laborious.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > carry on vigorously [verb (transitive)] > make brisk or active > bring into a specific condition by bustling > treat in fussy manner
to make a thing about (also of)1813
to make a (also one's) meal of1961
1961 C. Willock Death in Covert iv. 93 Dyson..was making a meal of everything. He had carefully paced the distance... He had stuck sticks in the ground.
1970 Guardian 5 Dec. 8/5 He had as one of his guests Inia Te Wiata, whose name has been pretty familiar to radio listeners for some years now but Mr Murray still made a meal, if not a light snack, of promoting it.
1988 Motor Boat & Yachting Oct. 166/3 We..noticed that, although she made rather a meal of getting over the hump, once up on the plane she picked up her skirts to reach 28.5 knots quickly and without too much apparent effort.
1995 C. Bateman Cycle of Violence i. 5 The doctor arrived, nodding, perspiring, as if he was about to make a meal of it, but when he had to say it he was admirably abrupt.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
meal-break n.
ΚΠ
1917 Econ. Jrnl. 27 75 Spell fatigue is mainly the effect of continuous strain till relieved by a meal-break.
1958 Guardian 20 Aug. 1/1 The central committee's advice to busmen..was to insist on full meal breaks.
1971 ‘H. Calvin’ Poison Chasers ix. 112 Ronnie Samson had to stop me to let the boys off for a meal break.
meal hour n.
ΚΠ
1802 E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 92 He seldom saw her but at meal hours.
1911 Commonw. Arbitration Rep. 5 107 None of the respondents shall permit ‘barrowing’ during ‘smoke-ohs’ or meal hours if it interfere in any way with the ‘smoke-oh’ or meal hour of any member of the claimant organization (other than the ‘barrower’).
1922 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 Nov. 707/2 The mid-day meal hour would be spoken of as ‘pannum-time’.
meal tray n.
ΚΠ
1905 19th Cent. Jan. 92 She gets ready the patients' meal-trays in a tasteful manner.
1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 June 2/3 The dayniter cars provide reclining seats with leg rests, carpeted floors, individual reading lamps, and pull-out meal trays.
C2. † meal-settle n. Obsolete rare a seat or bench at a dining table.
meal-going bell n. a bell rung to summon people to a meal.
ΚΠ
1858 T. J. Hogg Life Shelley II. 295 Startled at his books by the sound of the meal-going bell.
meal-pennant n. (also meal-pendant) U.S. Nautical (esp. Navy) a red pennant displayed during mealtimes; (U.S. Navy slang) a service stripe.
ΚΠ
1864 D. D. Porter in War of Rebellion (U.S. War Dept.) (1900) 1st Ser. X. 562 Meal pennants to be hoisted only at meals, without regard to senior officer.
1878 F. O. Davenport On Man-of-war 29 While the crew are at meals a red ‘meal pennant’ is displayed at the mizzen truck or at the crossjack yard arm to warn outsiders that the men are not to be disturbed.
1918 L. E. Ruggles Navy Explained 75 This red mark is called a hash mark, assuming that the man re-enlisted for his hash. It is also called a meal pennant.
meal ready to eat n. U.S. Military a packaged meal given to soldiers as field rations; cf. MRE n. at M n. Initialisms 1.
ΚΠ
1984 N.Y. Times 25 Feb. 4/5 An M.R.E. is a meal-ready-to-eat. Water is added to dehydrated food and it can be heated or eaten cold.
1991 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army (rev. ed.) xv. 216 British rations were highly prized by American soldiers, whose MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) were in such disfavour that they were known as Meals Rejected by Ethiopians.
1993 Coloradoan (Fort Collins) 21 Feb. c4/4 You may recall the column I wrote after my wife and son and dogs and I conducted a taste test involving the Meal Ready to Eat (MRE), U.S. Army tactical food concept.
ΚΠ
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 26 Mel-seotel softest & guldene ȝerde.
meal station n. U.S. a stopping-place where meals are provided for coach or train passengers.
ΚΠ
1885 Cent. Mag. Dec. 240 At the squalid meal station he thrust her into the warmest corner by the fire... He led the way back to the stage.
1886 Overland Monthly Mar. 255/2 We procured an excellent breakfast at the station-house, however (for Ritzville had been a meal station on the Northern Pacific Railroad only a short time before).
1945 Collier's 17 Nov. 98/4 As the train approached a meal station the engineer blew a whistle code.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† mealn.3
Obsolete.
1. A vessel; a tub, bucket.In Old English sometimes used to gloss Latin patera, carchesium, cyathus (bowl, dish, cup).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > tub > [noun]
mealeOE
standa1275
collockc1310
kimnel1335
tub1392
kit14..
kiver1407
cowpe1483
trendle1493
boyne1532
bowie1538
runge1574
standfat1593
turnel1688
eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 5 Aluium, meeli.
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xxxvi. 86 Do þonne mele fulne buteran on.
OE Will of Atheling Æðelstan (Sawyer 1503) in D. Whitelock Anglo-Saxon Wills (1930) 58 Ænne sylfrene mele, on fif pundon.
c1300 St. Nicholas (Laud) 6 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 240 (MED) Þat child..Ase it was in ane mele i-baþed, al one upriȝt it stod.
1357–8 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 124 (MED) In j mele empt. pro carbonibus portandis.
1370–1 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 263 (MED) In una mele lingnea pro pedibus lavandis.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. 590 Thei..Of wyn let fille full a Miele And dronken til [etc.].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 3306 Wantes vs here na uessell, Ne mele ne bucket ne funell.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 47v Bokettis, meles, and payles.
1459–60 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 89 j kyrn, j meyle, ij chesfattez.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Alueus..a meele or vessell to washe in.
1567 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 278 iij milk meales.
1678 in M. Bodfish Probate Inventories Smethwick Residents 1647–1747 (1992) 26 In the Buttry 2 Barrells 2 loombs one cheese press..1 wooden meele.
2. A measure of lime.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > specific liquid or dry units > tub as unit
meal1327
tub1706
1327 in L. F. Salzman Building in Eng. (1952) 150 (MED) [At York lime was bought by the] mele [defined as containing 2 quarters].
1371 in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 7 Et in 206 mel' calcis emptis de Hugone..8 1. Et in 144 mel' calcis cariandis, dando pro la mel' 2 d., et 6 d. ad potum, 30 s. 6 d. Et in 90 mel' calcis remanentibus in compoto precedenti cariandis, dando ut supra, 18 s. 9 d.
1440 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 410 (MED) Et in 8 meel calcis extincte.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
mealn.4
/miːl/, U.S. /mil/ English regional.
A coastal sand dune.
ΚΠ
1588 in F. W. Brooks Suppl. Stiffkey Papers (1936) 35 Carriage of things from the Melles.
1697 Philos. Trans. 1695–7 (Royal Soc.) 19 349 They are often in danger of being Drowned, their Defence being only Banks or Hills of a small Sand, called Meals, the former Church [at Mawplethorp] having been devoured by it.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Meals or Males, the Shelves or Banks of Sand on the Sea-coasts of Norfolk: Whence Ingom-meals, the Name of a Sandy Shore in Lincoln-shire.
1751 S. Whatley England's Gazetteer at Edmond's-Chapel and Cape The coast here is secured against the incursions of the sea, by sand heaps, commonly called Meales.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 258/1 Sand~hills..locally termed ‘meals’, or ‘marum hills’.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Meales, or Miols, immense sandbanks thrown up by the sea on the coasts of Norfolk, Lancashire, etc.
1897 Spectator 209 At present only the highest tides ever cover the surface of the ‘meals’.
1901 W. A. Dutt Highways & Byways in E. Anglia 227 The ‘moorlands of the sea’ some one has called the ‘meals’ lying eastward of Wells; for it is here that the wild sea-lavender flaunts its pale mauve blossoms as plentiful as heather on the moors.
1936 F. W. Brooks Suppl. Stiffkey Papers 35 Dr. Hubert Hall informs me that part of the foreshore at Stiffkey is still locally known as the ‘meeles’.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
meal-bank n.
ΚΠ
1893 in H. T. Cozens-Hardy Broad Norfolk (Eastern Daily Press) 77 Mielbanks, banks of sand blown up by the wind and consolidated by the marum grass—also called ‘meal-banks’.
meal marsh n.
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1897 Spectator 14 Aug. 209/2 The form of the ‘meal-marshes’ indicates that the soil has been deposited by the tides, and history shows that the process has been extraordinarily rapid.
1920 J. Vaughan Music of Wild Flowers xiv. 112 The flora of these dykes or ditches is..entirely different from that of the adjacent sand-dunes and shingle which separate the reclaimed marshes from the shore, or of the meal marshes which often border the sea.
C2. † meal-grass n. (in forms mellgress, melgress) Obsolete marram grass, Ammophila arenaria.
ΚΠ
1734 in Local Historian (1998) 28 242 We order that none of our inhabitants cut any mellgress to burn in pain of 1 shilling for every default.
1793 in Local Historian (1998) 28 242 [Those who] refuse to go and set melgress [for the] preservation of their property 3 days at Candelmass and 3 days at March [are warned].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† mealv.1
Obsolete.
transitive. To mark, spot, or stain (something). (In quot. a1616 figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > soiled condition > soil [verb (transitive)] > stain
mealeOE
litc1230
beblotc1374
depaintc1374
entachc1374
stain1382
tache1390
wem1398
molec1400
blob1429
blotc1440
imbruec1450
maculate?a1475
thorough-stain1593
commaculatec1616
stigmatizea1637
tattoo1774
staddle1828
bestain1869
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 282 Lita, attre gemæled.
OE Cynewulf Juliana 591 Næs hyre wloh ne hrægl, ne feax ne fel fyre gemæled.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. ii. 84 Were he meal'd with that Which he corrects, then were he tirrannous. View more context for this quotation
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
mealv.2
/miːl/, U.S. /mil/ 1. intransitive. To eat a meal, to feed; to take meals at a particular place (cf. mealer n.1 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating meals > eat meal [verb (intransitive)]
mealc1480
table1562
c1480 (a1400) St. Eugenia 307 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 133 [Þ]is matron þan mycht nomare wald sum tyme to þe abbay fare, & with þe abbot gladly meile.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxvi. sig. X6 With Earthen Plate, Agathocles (they say) Did vse to meale.
1826 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 218 There were..worms there.., which would have mealed handsomely upon him.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxx. 109 Mess, any number of men who meal together.
1886 M. K. Macmillan Dagonet the Jester 5 I will not meal with a churl, nor moil with a churl.
1891 H. C. Bunner Zadoc Pine 201 A lodging-house for those who ‘mealed’ at the hotel.
1918 Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. 7 John Lecky..generally arranged to meal at Friends' houses.
1960 A. Powell Casanova's Chinese Restaurant 113 ‘Doesn't Carolo ever eat himself?’.. ‘He often meals with us as a matter of fact.’
2. transitive. To feed; to provide sustenance for. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [verb (transitive)]
baitc1400
servea1475
foddera1500
refetea1500
maintain1576
provend1581
provender1584
put1620
meal1630
stall-feed1763
feed1818
board1875
1630 J. Winthrop Let. 9 Sept. in Hist. New Eng. (1825) (modernized text) I. App. 378 Some more cows would be brought, especially two new milch, which must be well mealed and milked by the way.
1876 J. B. Warren Soldier of Fortune iii. ii. 210 Let him be moderately mealed, So will he guard us well.
1928 Amer. Speech 3 434 The reference to ‘roomed’..reminds me of a sign I saw while in Florida, at Sarasota I think it was: ‘Tourists Roomed and Mealed.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mealv.3
/miːl/, U.S. /mil/ 1.
a. transitive. To cover with meal; to powder with meal (in early use, for cosmetic purposes). In later use also in passive, of a plant: to be covered with a whitish powder (see meal n.1 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > sprinkle > sprinkle (a surface) with something > (as) with specific substance
sandc1374
snowc1400
be-ash1530
gravel1543
bemeal1598
kern1613
meal1613
powder-sugar1654
ash1655
sawdust1882
the world > plants > appearance of plant > defined by texture > cover with powder [verb (transitive)]
meal1882
1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle v. sig. I3 Enter Iasper, his face mealed.
1656 R. Younge Impartial Monitor 15 It were a good deed..to tell men also of mealing their heads and shoulders; of wearing fardingdales about their leggs, etc. For these likewise deserve the rod: since all that are discreet do but hate and scorn them for it.
1813 A. Cunningham Songs xxxix. 69 The fragrant cowslips, richly mealed, Perfume thy walks by bush and bield.
1882 Garden 21 Jan. 33/3 All their flowers will be more or less mealed on the surface.
b. transitive. figurative. to meal one's mouth: to be mealy-mouthed. rare.
ΚΠ
1826 R. Southey Let. in Corr. R. Southey with C. Bowles (1881) 96 Though there is as much civility as can be desired..yet I have neither mealed my mouth nor minced my words.
c. transitive. Scottish. To add meal to; to thicken (soup, etc.) with meal. Also in figurative context (see quot. 1916).
ΚΠ
1827 in W. Motherwell Minstrelsy 387 And she would meal you [sc. nettle kail] with millering, That she gathers at the mill.
1869 M. McLennan Peasant Life 128 His brose was plentifully mealed.
1916 J. Mowat Proverbs 9 ‘At'll noor meal his kail’—a project not likely to bring profit.
2. † b. intransitive. To become reduced to meal or powder. Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. To grind into meal, to reduce to a fine powder; to create (powder, etc.) through grinding. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > grind corn [verb (transitive)]
grindc1384
mill1511
multure1547
meal1669
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xiii. 89 Meal all these very fine, and mix them together.
1765 R. Jones New Treat. Artific. Fireworks ii. 31 When you are going to meal a quantity of powder.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 221 Though barley can still be had, it is at the enormous price of from 46s. to 50s. per boll; and the trouble and expence of mealing it here is considerable.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1412/1 Mealer, a wooden rubber for mealing powder.
1926 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 56 413 Probably it [sc. a pestle] was used as a second stage in reducing grain to flour, the first being confined to mealing it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > grind corn [verb (intransitive)] > become meal
meal1669
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xiii. 89 It will Meal presently.
3. intransitive. Scottish. Of grain, etc.: to yield meal when ground.
ΚΠ
1795 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XIV. 195 The rest of the barley of the parish is generally sold at 20s. the boll, and meals about 16 stones weight.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 155 It is a little earlier than the old Polish oat, and meals equally well.
1845 New Statist. Acct. Scotl. VIII. 171 There was plenty of grain on the acre, but it did not meal so well as last year.
1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 69/2 The crops in the western part of Scotland were bulky, yet they did not meal well.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : -mealsuffix
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n.1eOEn.2eOE
n.3eOE
n.41588v.1eOEv.2c1480v.31613see also