A meal is an occasion when people sit down and eat, usually at a regular time.
She sat next to him throughout the meal.
It's rare that I have an evening meal with my children.
Synonyms: repast, board, spread [informal], snack More Synonyms of meal
2. countable noun
A meal is the food you eat during a meal.
The waiter offered him red wine or white wine with his meal.
Fresh fish makes a delicious meal.
3. uncountable noun [usually noun NOUN]
Meal is a rough powder made of crushed grain. It is used to make flour or animal food.
4. See also bone meal
5.
See make a meal of sth
6.
See a square meal
meal in British English1
(miːl)
noun
1.
a.
any of the regular occasions, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc, when food is served and eaten
b.
(in combination)
mealtime
▶ Related adjective: prandial
2.
the food served and eaten
3. make a meal of
Word origin
Old English mǣl measure, set time, meal; related to Old High German māl mealtime
meal in British English2
(miːl)
noun
1.
the edible part of a grain or pulse (excluding wheat) ground to a coarse powder, used chiefly as animal food
2. Scottish
oatmeal
3. mainly US
maize flour
Derived forms
meal-less (ˈmeal-less)
adjective
Word origin
Old English melu; compare Dutch meel, Old High German melo, Old Norse mjöl
meal in American English1
(mil)
noun
1.
any of the times, esp. the customary times, for eating, as breakfast, lunch, or dinner
2.
the food served or eaten at such a time
Word origin
ME mele < OE mæl, a measure, fixed time, meal, akin to Ger mal, time, mahl, meal < IE base *mē-, to measure
meal in American English2
(mil)
noun
1.
any edible grain, or the edible part of any grain, coarsely ground and unbolted
cornmeal
2.
any substance similarly ground or powdered
Word origin
ME mele < OE melu, akin to Ger mehl < IE base *mel-, to grind, soft > mill1
-meal in American English
(mil)
by a (specified) amount done or used at one time
obs. except in inchmeal, piecemeal
Word origin
ME -mele < OE -mælum < mæl, measure, time (see meal1) + adv. dat. -um
-meal in American English
suffix
a native English combining form, now unproductive, denoting a fixed measure at a time
piecemeal
Word origin
[ME -mele, OE -mǣlum, comb. form repr. mǣlmeal1]
More idioms containing
meal
make a meal of something
a meal ticket
a square meal
COBUILD Collocations
meal
balanced meal
decent meal
delicious meal
festive meal
gourmet meal
light meal
main meal
microwave meal
midday meal
simple meal
sit-down meal
tasty meal
Examples of 'meal' in a sentence
meal
Mixing in veggie options will also save you some cash and make your family meals go further.
The Sun (2016)
Those on free school meals are far less likely to get into them.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They took us to their home and fed us a delicious meal of rice and beans.
The Sun (2017)
Schools should teach them to cook nutritional meals that they eat.
The Sun (2016)
I could buy three ready meals for the same price so had to say no.
The Sun (2016)
As guests are not having to prepare their own meal, they are likely to be very happy to help out.
The Sun (2016)
There are no cooking facilities in the container camp so we have been providing 1,500 people with three meals a day.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They're very good at disguising healthy food in nice meals for grown-ups.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There is a hot link between romance and food, so prepare a meal together and you will find out if it is friendship or warm love.
The Sun (2017)
A three-course meal is served.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Their investigation is focused on the cooking oil that was used to prepare the meal.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Researchers found memory aids like keeping food wrappers helped people reduce their meal sizes.
The Sun (2013)
He organises their meals and always cooks too much.
The Sun (2008)
On a par with hospital meals and school dinners?
The Sun (2012)
Today we have two more exercises along with more delicious meal plans.
The Sun (2007)
The benefits of eating meals as a family were also clearly defined.
Christianity Today (2000)
What would you say makes an average meal special?
The Sun (2013)
One of my favourite things to do during these meals was people watch.
The Sun (2014)
Always prepare one meal at a time if at all possible.
Stewart, Dr Alan & Stewart, Maryon The Vitality Diet (1990)
Sit comfortably and take this for a full minute before you eat a particular food or a meal.
Chaitow, Leon The Beat Fatigue Workbook - how to identify the causes (1988)
They recommend two meals of white fish a week and one meal of oily fish such as salmon or sardines.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But sales of ethnic food ready meals were down five per cent as more people opt to cook at home.
The Sun (2013)
Your three-course meal need only take more than an hour if you want it to.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Pilot schemes for free school meals were established in 2009 and ran for two years.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
meal
British English: meal /miːl/ NOUN
A meal is an occasion when people eat.
She sat next to him throughout the meal.
American English: meal
Arabic: وَجْبَةٌ
Brazilian Portuguese: refeição
Chinese: 一餐
Croatian: obrok
Czech: pokrm
Danish: måltid
Dutch: maal maaltijd
European Spanish: comida ocasión
Finnish: ateria
French: repas
German: Essen
Greek: γεύμα
Italian: pasto
Japanese: 食事
Korean: 식사
Norwegian: måltid
Polish: posiłek
European Portuguese: refeição
Romanian: masă
Russian: прием пищи
Latin American Spanish: comida
Swedish: måltid
Thai: มื้ออาหาร
Turkish: öğün
Ukrainian: прийом їжі
Vietnamese: bữa ăn
Chinese translation of 'meal'
meal
(miːl)
n
(c) (= occasion) 一餐 (yī cān) (顿, dùn)
(c) (= food) 膳食 (shànshí) (顿, dùn)
(u) (= flour) 粗磨粉 (cūmófěn)
to go out for a meal出去吃饭(飯) (chūqù chīfàn)
to make a meal of sth (Brit, inf) 对(對)某事做得太过(過)分 (duì mǒushì zuò de tài guòfèn)
每天的第一顿饭叫做 breakfast。午餐最常用的表达法是 lunch，但是在英国的某些地方，或在某些场合下，也可以用 dinner。 He seldom has lunch at all ... school dinners ... Christmas dinner.dinner通常用来指晚餐。在英式英语里，它还可以指正式的或特殊的一餐。 In the evening they had a dinner to celebrate.supper 和 tea 有时也被用来表示晚餐，但也有人用 supper 表示夜宵，用 tea 表示下午小餐。