- meal
- nounADJECTIVE▪ big, filling, heavy▪
I always want to go to sleep after a heavy meal.
▪ hearty, slap-up (BrE)▪ gourmet (esp. AmE), lavish, sumptuous▪ decent, proper, square, substantial▪She hadn't had a square meal for days.
▪ light, simple▪The bar serves light meals.
▪ meagre/meager▪a meagre/meager meal of bread and cheese
▪ four-course, three-course, etc.▪ appetizing, delicious, excellent, lovely (esp. BrE), tasty▪Thanks for a delicious meal.
▪ home-cooked▪She has very little time to prepare home-cooked meals.
▪ balanced, healthful (AmE), healthy, nourishing, nutritious, wholesome▪ main▪When do you have your main meal of the day?
▪ evening (esp. BrE), midday (esp. BrE), noon (AmE)▪ hot▪Hot meals are not available after 10 o'clock.
▪ favourite/favorite▪That night he made her favourite/favorite meal.
▪ vegetarian▪ festive (esp. AmE)▪ Christmas, Passover, Thanksgiving, etc.◆◆◆NOTE: Meals▪ eat … , have …▪Have you had breakfast?
▪ take … (formal)▪I often take lunch in the hotel bar.
▪ grab … , snatch … (BrE)▪Let's grab lunch.
▪I'm so busy I have to snatch meals when I can.
▪ come for/to … , go for/to meal (These verbs are often used with around (esp. AmE), out, over and round (esp. BrE).)▪We went to Fargo's for lunch.
▪We're going out for dinner.
▪We're going out for a meal. (BrE)
▪You should come over for dinner sometime.
▪ ask sb to … , have sb for/to … , invite sb for/to … , take sb for/to … (These verbs are often used with around (esp. AmE), out, over and round (esp. BrE).)▪He wouldn't have asked me to supper if he didn't like me.
▪We must have you over for dinner sometime.
▪Let me take you out for lunch.
▪ be out to lunch▪He's out to lunch with a client.
▪ stop for …▪We stopped for tea at the Ritz.
▪ join sb for … , stay for/to …▪You're sure you won't stay for dinner?
▪ sit down to … , start … , finish …▪We had just sat down to breakfast when the phone rang.
▪ skip …▪I sometimes skip lunch if we're very busy.
▪ cook (sb) … , fix (sb) … (esp. AmE), get … ready, make (sb) … , prepare …▪She hurried downstairs to fix herself some breakfast.
▪ have … ready▪We'll have supper ready for you.
▪ serve …▪Lunch is served from 12.30 till 2.30.
▪ keep … warm, warm … up▪I'll be home late, so keep my dinner warm.
▪ provide (sb with) …▪Dinner is provided in the superb hotel restaurant.
▪ … is available▪A four-course dinner is available by prior arrangement.
▪ … is ready▪‘Breakfast's ready!’ shouted Christine.
▪ … time (usually written as one word)▪The family was always noisy at mealtimes.
▪It was lunchtime.
▪ at … , during … , over …▪Nobody spoke during supper.
▪ for …▪What did you have for lunch?
▪ … of▪a breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
