Definitions

lunch

[luhnch] / lʌntʃ /

NOUN

midday meal

Synonyms

STRONG

luncheon

WEAK

high tea snack tea

Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for lunch?

The word lunch originally comes from a shortening of luncheon, which was once used to mean the same thing but now more specifically refers to a formal lunch held in connection with a meeting or other special occasion. Lunch is the midday meal, commonly eaten around noon (though later in some places). The time at which you eat lunch is called lunchtime. A late lunch is one eaten later than usual. Lunch isn’t always defined by the time it’s eaten, though. In some places, a midday meal is called dinner when it’s the main meal of the day. A light lunch is one that’s not too heavy or filling. A hot lunch is one that consists of hot foods, as opposed to cold food, like cold sandwiches. A packaged lunch provided at an event is often called a box lunch (or a boxed lunch). A lunch that you pack for yourself is often called a brown-bag lunch. The term bag lunch (or bagged lunch) can refer to one that’s provided or one that you packed yourself. The period allotted to eat lunch during a workday is called a lunch break or the lunch hour. In school, this is often called the lunch period. A business meeting conducted over lunch can be called a business lunch, a lunch meeting, or a power lunch. According to popular wisdom, there is no such thing as a free lunch. To do lunch means to meet someone for lunch. This is often called a lunch date. Brunch is a meal that’s like a combination of breakfast and lunch, typically eaten between breakfast time and lunchtime. A midmorning break for a snack—eaten after breakfast but before lunch—can be called elevenses (in reference to being eaten around 11 a.m.). In the U.K., the term high tea refers to a late afternoon or early evening meal similar to a light supper. Lunch can also be a verb, though this is quite formal and is much less commonly used. To lunch means to eat lunch, or to eat something specific for lunch, as in We lunched on sandwiches. More specifically, it can mean to engage in lunch as an activity, as in First we’ll visit the museum, then we’ll lunch, then we’ll see a show.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

lunch lunches lunched lunching

“I think that now we’re at a point where it feels like we have this really humming machine,” Brockman said at a July media lunch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

The food is packed into boxes for free doorstep deliveries to people, with any leftover produce given to food banks, community fridges, lunch clubs and youth groups.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

It has enough backbone for the journey without requiring the determined chewing that makes lunch feel like a mandibular endurance event.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

If you buy Nike, you’ve got to say you’re expecting a real turnaround, when actually you’ve got people like Amer and all these other people coming for Nike’s lunch.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

But she helped Nim clean the sand out with fresh coconut juice, and then Fred hinted that they ought to eat the coconut now they’d opened it, so they had it for lunch with bananas.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

He shot pool now and then at the Playboy Mansion, collected guns, dyed his white hair jet-black and trundled out anecdotes of Old Hollywood over three-hour lunches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Her world looks and operates like ours, and that means there are no free lunches.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

The reversal follows criticism from teachers, nutritionists and parents who argued that removing eggs from school lunches could deprive children from poor families a key source of protein.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

Every week, debt adviser Teresa Tennant joins volunteers offering support and free community lunches at St Mary Magdalene Church in neighbouring Gorleston-on-Sea.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

“I mean, you dress nice, and have tons of comics, and you always have homemade lunches at school. I figured your parents must care if they make those for you.”

From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle

They never divorced and lunched together almost daily.

From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025

Accompanied by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, he also lunched at a pizza parlor owned and operated by military veterans.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2024

In the statement Monday noting Rubiales’ resignation, after Ceferin had lunched with the women delegates, there was praise but not words of solidarity toward the Spanish players or women’s soccer in general.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023

We lunched on the small amount of smoked fish and seaman’s hardtack we had bought at a souvenir shop and drank water.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 20, 2022

I knew the other clerks and young bond-salesmen by their first names and lunched with them in dark crowded restaurants on little pig sausages and mashed potatoes and coffee.

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The two leaders ended up getting on well, even lunching together at times, despite belonging to different camps, said a senior U.S. defense official.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Munir accompanied Sharif during a visit to Washington in June, lunching with Trump.

From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026

The trend of lunching on big bowls of healthy ingredients has lost some momentum in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2026

A walkway runs along the length of it, passing by a giant dinosaur skeleton, a beach volleyball pitch and dozens of Googlers lunching under the hazy November sun.

From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025

“I saw him for the first time when lunching here yesterday.”

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

lunch

Frequently Asked Questions

Example Sentences

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