lunch
/lʌn(t)ʃ
/noun
A meal eaten in the middle of the day, typically one that is lighter or less formal than an evening meal: a light lunch [mass noun]: do join us for lunch [as modifier]: a lunch meeting...
- On Monday, he served just three lunches and three evening meals; on Tuesday, four lunches and no evening meals.
- Price also includes breakfast, afternoon tea and a combination of four evening meals and two lunches.
- Daily lunches and evening meals are arranged by various organizations and individual donators who make monetary donations that go towards food for the children.
verb [no object, with adverbial]
1Eat lunch: he told his wife he was lunching with a client...
- I missed breakfast, lunched on three ripe, juicy plums, and dined on a plate of salad with a jacket potato and a slice of very lean pork.
- She was a devotee in Swifty's, the successor to her beloved Mortimer's, and she lunched and dined there often.
- We made drawings of gravestones of dead monks, lunched in local pub and had a swell trip.
1.1 [with object] Take (someone) out for lunch: public relations people lunch their clients there...
- She was lunched at a popular political and media haunt - all for the purpose of public consumption.
- He was lunched by the prime minister and dined by the president.
- The North Korean leader, in expansive mood while lunching southern media moguls, suggested a repeat in September and October.
Phrases
do lunch
out to lunch
there's no such thing as a free lunch
Derivatives
luncher
- Most hungry lunchers, I suspect, would rather opt for a sandwich and a packet of crisps than a pot of warm, fresh porridge - however well prepared, attractively presented and nutritious it may be.
- The line of food court lunchers snakes out the door at 12:10 p.m., so if you don't want to stand in line for a few minutes, try to get there a bit early.
- A wall-mounted blackboard tempts lunchers to the daily menu.
Origin
Early 19th century: abbreviation of luncheon.
Until the 19th century a light midday meal was a luncheon (late 16th century), and when the shortened form lunch appeared in the 1820s people regarded it as either lower-class or a fashionable affectation. Luncheon was probably derived from Spanish lonja ‘slice’. See also lady, supper. The modern proverb there's no such thing as a free lunch, was first used in the 1960s among US economists. It was probably suggested by the practice, dating from the mid 19th century, of some bars providing free lunch if you bought a drink.