1796 T. Morton i. i. 10 I was tired of the routine, field-days, parade, mess-dinners, and so——.
1885 A. Edwardes I. xiv. 283 The usual guest-night at mess. Curious how precisely alike all mess dinners are.
1994 R. Davies 197 One night after a mess dinner, when we were all in full dress..some of these young Russian aristocrats..asked me if I would like to be introduced to a new game.