meal

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

meal [meal meals] BrE [miːl] NAmE [miːl] noun
1. countable an occasion when people sit down to eat food, especially breakfast, lunch or dinner
• Try not to eat between meals.
• Lunch is his main meal of the day.
• (especially BrE)to go out for a meal (= to go to a restaurant to have a meal)
•What time would you like your evening meal?
2. countable the food that is eaten at a meal
• Enjoy your meal.
•a three-course meal
3. uncountable (often in compounds)grain that has been crushed to produce a powder, used as food for animals and for making flour
see also ↑bonemeal, ↑oatmeal, ↑wholemeal
more at a square meal at ↑square _adj.
Idiom: ↑make a meal of something

Word Origin:
n. senses 1 to 2 and
Old English mǣl ‘measure’ piecemeal ‘measure taken at one time’ Germanic meal Dutch maal ‘meal, (portion of) time’ German Mal ‘time’ Mahl ‘meal’ Indo-European ‘to measure’ n. sense 3 Old English melu meolo Germanic Dutch meel German Mehl Indo-European Latin molere ‘to grind’

Culture:
meals
Americans and British people generally eat three meals a day though the names vary according to people’s lifestyles and where they live.
The first meal of the day is breakfast. The traditional full English breakfast served in many British hotels may include fruit juice, cereal, bacon and eggs, often with sausages and tomatoes, toast and marmalade, and tea or coffee. Few people have time to prepare a cooked breakfast at home and most have only cereal and/or toast with tea or coffee. Others buy coffee and a pastry on their way to work.
The traditional American breakfast includes eggs, some kind of meat and toast. Eggs may be fried, ‘over easy’, ‘over hard’ or ‘sunny side up’, or boiled, poached or in an omelette (= beaten together and fried). The meat may be bacon or sausage. People who do not have time for a large meal have toast or cereal and coffee. It is common for Americans to eat breakfast in a restaurant. On Saturday and Sunday many people eat brunch late in the morning. This consists of both breakfast and lunch dishes, including pancakes and waffles (= types of cooked batter) that are eaten with butter and maple syrup.
Lunch, which is eaten any time after midday, is the main meal of the day for some British people, though people out at work may have only sandwiches. Some people also refer to the midday meal as dinner. Most workers are allowed about an hour off work for it, called the lunch hour, and many also go shopping. Many schools offer a cooked lunch (school lunch or school dinner), though some students take a packed lunch of sandwiches, fruit, etc. Sunday lunch is special and is, for many families, the biggest meal of the week, consisting traditionally of roast meat and vegetables and a sweet course. In the US lunch is usually a quick meal, eaten around midday. Many workers have a half-hour break for lunch, and buy a sandwich from near their place of work. Business people may sometimes eat a larger lunch and use the time to discuss business.
The main meal of the day for most people is the evening meal, called supper, tea or dinner. It is usually a cooked meal with meat or fish or a salad, followed by a sweet course. In Britain younger children may have tea when they get home from school. Tea, meaning a main meal for adults, is the word used in some parts of Britain especially when the evening meal is eaten early. Dinner sounds more formal than supper, and guests generally receive invitations to ‘dinner’ rather than to ‘supper’. In the US the evening meal is called dinner and is usually eaten around 6 or 6.30 p.m. In many families, both in Britain and in the US, family members eat at different times and rarely sit down at the table together.
Many people also eat snacks between meals. Most have tea or coffee at mid-morning, often called coffee time or the coffee break. In Britain in the past this was sometimes also called elevenses. In the afternoon many British people have a tea break. Some hotels serve afternoon tea which consists of tea or coffee and a choice of sandwiches and cakes. When on holiday/vacation people sometimes have a ↑cream tea of scones, jam and cream. In addition many people eat chocolate bars, biscuits (AmE cookies) or crisps (AmE chips). Some British people have a snack, sometimes called supper, consisting of a milk drink and a biscuit before they go to bed. In the US children often have milk and cookies after school.

Thesaurus:
meal noun
1. C
•They sat down to a four-course meal.
dinner • • lunch • • banquet • • snack • • something to eat • • feed • • feast •
a great/sumptuous meal/dinner/banquet/feast
a four-course/five-course, etc. meal/dinner/lunch/banquet
have a meal/dinner/lunch/banquet/snack/something to eat/feed/feast
2. C
•Enjoy your meal.
food • • dinner • • diet • |formal refreshment • |written, especially journalism fare •
(a/an) simple/traditional/vegetarian/English/Chinese, etc. meal/food/diet/fare
provide a meal/food/dinner/a…diet/refreshment
eat a meal/food/dinner/a…diet/…fare

Collocations:
Restaurants
Eating out
eat (lunch/dinner)/dine/meet at/in a restaurant
go (out)/take sb (out) for lunch/dinner/a meal
have a meal with sb
make/have a reservation (in/under the name of Yamada)
reserve/ (especially BrE) book a table for six
ask for/request a table for two/a table by the window
In the restaurant
wait to be seated
show sb to their table
sit in the corner/by the window/at the bar/at the counter
hand sb/give sb the menu/wine list
open/read/study/peruse the menu
the restaurant has a three-course set menu/a children's menu/an extensive wine list
taste/sample/try the wine
the waiter takes your order
order/choose/have the soup of the day/one of the specials/the house (BrE) speciality/(especially NAmE) specialty
serve/finish the first course/the starter/the main course/dessert/coffee
complain about the food/the service/your meal
enjoy your meal
Paying
pay/ask for (especially BrE) the bill/(NAmE) the check
pay for/treat sb to dinner/lunch/the meal
service is (not) included
give sb/leave (sb) a tip

More About:
meals
People use the words dinner, lunch, supper and tea in different ways depending on which English-speaking country they come from. In Britain it may also depend on which part of the country or which social class a person comes from.
A meal eaten in the middle of the day is usually called lunch. If it is the main meal of the day it may also be called dinner in BrE, especially in the north of the country.
A main meal eaten in the evening is usually called dinner, especially if it is a formal meal. Supper is also an evening meal, but more informal than dinner and usually eaten at home. It can also be a late meal or something to eat and drink before going to bed.
In BrE, tea is a light meal in the afternoon with sandwiches, cakes, etc. and a cup of tea: ▪ a cream tea. It can also be a main meal eaten early in the evening, especially by children: ▪ What time do the kids have their tea?
As a general rule, if dinner is the word someone uses for the meal in the middle of the day, they probably call the meal in the evening tea or supper. If they call the meal in the middle of the day lunch, they probably call the meal in the evening dinner.
Brunch, a combination of breakfast and lunch, is becoming more common, especially as a meal where your guests serve themselves.

Example Bank:
•Hot meals are not available after 10 o'clock.
•I always want to go to sleep after a heavy meal.
•I'm so busy I have to snatch meals when I can.
•Let's go out for a meal.
•She hadn't had a square meal for days.
•She has very little time to prepare home-cooked meals.
•Thanks for a delicious meal.
•That night he made her favourite/favorite meal.
•The bar serves light meals.
•The family was always noisy at meal times.
•We're going out for a meal.
•When do you have your main meal of the day?
•a meagre meal of bread and cheese
•He looks like he hasn't had a square meal for days.
•She took me out for a slap-up meal.
•They gave us a three-course meal.