lunch

IPA/lʌntʃ/
KK[lˈʌntʃ]IPA/lʌntʃ/

lunch — noun

  • lunchsingular
  • lunchesplural

1. a meal you have at around noon, often lighter than the evening meal and eaten du

1.nounA1
Definition

a meal you have at around noon, often lighter than the evening meal and eaten during a break from work or school.

Example

Defne usually eats lunch at the school canteen with her friends.

collocation: eat lunch at [place]

Lakshmi packed a lunch of rice and vegetables for the trip.

collocation: packed lunch of [food]

Common collocations
  • have lunch
  • eat lunch
  • pack a lunch
  • for lunch
  • at lunch
  • lunch break
  • lunch time
  • light lunch
  • business lunch
  • school lunch
Synonyms
  • luncheon

    more formal term for lunch, often used on invitations or official menus

  • midday meal

    descriptive phrase rather than a direct synonym; more common in writing than speech

Antonyms
  • breakfast

    the first meal of the day, eaten in the morning

  • dinner

    the main evening meal

Grammar Patterns

have/eat + lunch

for + lunch

at + lunch

Usage Note

In everyday English, lunch is most often used without an article (have lunch, eat lunch, for lunch). The indefinite article a is used when describing a particular instance: 'a light lunch', 'a working lunch'.

Common Mistakes

I had a lunch at 12 pm.
I had lunch at 12 pm.
When talking about the meal in general, do not use 'a'.
I will lunch my friends at home.' (when meaning I will eat with them)
My friends will come for lunch.
Only verb sense 2 has a transitive meaning; for the ordinary eating event, use 'have lunch' or 'eat lunch'.
Idioms

out to lunch

idiom

Someone who is out to lunch is not paying attention or acting in a strange way.

Maya was completely out to lunch during the meeting yesterday.

Is Brian out to lunch, or did he just forget our plan?

there’s no such thing as a free lunch

idiom

This expression means that you cannot get something without giving something in return.

Remember, there's no such thing as a free lunch in business.

Diego learned that there's no such thing as a free lunch when he had to pay hidden fees.

lunch — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to meals at different times of day. Breakfast is the first meal, eaten in the morning after waking up. Lunch is eaten in the middle of the day, usually between 12 pm and 2 pm, and is often lighter than dinner. Dinner is the main evening meal, typically eaten between 6 pm and 8 pm — in some British households, 'dinner' can also refer to the midday meal (especially in northern England), which is a regional difference to be aware of. Brunch is a late-morning meal that combines breakfast and lunch, usually eaten between 10 am and 1 pm on weekends, and is more casual. Supper is a lighter evening meal, often eaten later than dinner, or used in some regions as the main evening meal itself. For everyday speaking: 'I had breakfast at 8, lunch at 1, and dinner at 7' is the most common pattern.

breakfast ↗dinner ↗brunch ↗supper ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • break for lunch
  • have lunch
  • eat lunch
  • go out for lunch

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'lunch' first appeared in English in the late 1500s, likely shortened from 'luncheon', which itself may come from 'lump' (a piece of food) combined with 'nuncheon' (a midday drink or snack, from Old English 'non' meaning noon and 'schenc' meaning a drink). By the 1800s, 'lunch' had replaced the older word 'dinner' for the midday meal, especially among the middle and upper classes.