meal

1 [C] 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. * What time would you like your evening meal? 2 [C] the food that is eaten at a meal: Enjoy your meal. * a three-course meal 3 [U] (often in compounds) grain that has been crushed to produce a powder, used as food for animals and for making flour seealsoBONEMEAL, OATMEAL, WHOLEMEAL IDIOMS make a meal of sth (informal) to spend a lot of time, energy, etc. doing sth in a way that other people think is unnecessary and/or annoying: Why do you have to make such a meal of everything? moreatSQUAREadj. ______________________________ MOREABOUT 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 you eat outside or one where your guests serve themselves. ______________________________