meal

US: /ˈmiɫ/
UK: /mˈiːl/


English Vietnamese dictionary


meal /'mi:l/
  • danh từ
    • bột ((thường) xay chưa mịn)
    • lượng sữa vắt (vắt một lần ở bò sữa)
    • bữa ăn
      • at meals: vào bữa ăn
      • to take a meal; to eat one's meal: ăn cơm
      • to make a [heart] meal of: ăn hết một lúc
  • nội động từ
    • ăn, ăn cơm

Advanced English dictionary


+ noun
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
See also - BONEMEAL, 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?
more at SQUARE adj.
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 you eat outside or one where your guests serve themselves.

Thesaurus dictionary


n.
1 food, repast, victuals, nourishment, spread, collation, refection; dinner, supper, breakfast, lunch, luncheon, Brit tea:
Meals will be served in the main dining room.
2 make a meal of. overdo, overplay, go overboard, go or carry to extremes, carry or go too far, do to excess:
Perkins is bound to make a meal of the slightest thing.

Collocation dictionary


ADJ.

big, filling, heavy
I always want to go to sleep after a heavy meal.
| slap-up | lavish, sumptuous | square, substantial
She hadn't had a square meal for days.
| light, simple
The bar serves light meals.
| meagre
a meagre meal of bread and cheese
| four-course, three-course, etc. | appetizing, decent, delicious, excellent, lovely, tasty
Thanks for a delicious meal.
| balanced, healthy, nourishing, wholesome | main
When do you have your main meal of the day?
| evening, midday | hot
Hot meals are not available after 10 o'clock.
| vegetarian

More information about MEAL

MEAL:

eat, have, take
(formal)
~
Have you had breakfast?

grab, snatch ~
I'm so busy I have to snatch meals when I can.

ask sb to ~ have/invite/take sb for/to ~ come/go for/to ~
He wouldn't have asked her to supper if he didn't like her, she reasoned.

These verbs are often used with

around, out, over
and
round:
We must have you over for dinner sometime. Let's go out for a meal.

be out to
lunchHe'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 wont stay for tea?

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), 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 noon till 3.

keep warm, warm up ~
I'll be home late, so keep my dinner warm.

provide, provide sb (with) ~
Dinner is provided in the superb hotel restaurant.

~ be available
A four course dinner is available by prior arrangement.

~ be ready
‘Breakfast's ready!’ shouted Christine.

~ time
The family was always noisy at meal times.

at/during/over ~
Nobody spoke during supper.

for ~
What did you have for lunch?

~ of
a breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup


Concise English dictionary


mealsmiːl
noun
+the food served and eaten at one time
+any of the occasions for eating food that occur by custom or habit at more or less fixed times
+coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal grasses or pulse