brunch

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Brunch sits between breakfast and lunch in both time and feeling. Breakfast is usually the first meal after you wake up, and it is often earlier and quicker. Lunch is the regular midday meal, but it does not suggest breakfast foods or a lazy late start. Brunch usually happens later in the morning, often on weekends, and people may eat eggs, toast, salad, or noodles in the same meal. Late breakfast is close in meaning, but it often sounds more like a delayed breakfast than a meal replacing lunch. A snack is much smaller and does not stand in for a full meal. If a friend says, 'Let's do brunch,' the idea is usually a relaxed social meal, not a rushed bite.

Common collocations

Etymology

Brunch is an English blend formed from breakfast and lunch. It appeared in the late nineteenth century, first in British writing, to name a meal eaten late enough to take the place of both.