meals

IPA/mˈiːlz/
KK[mˈilz]IPA/mˈiːlz/

meals — noun

1. the regular times in a day when people sit down to eat, together with the food p

1.nounA1
Definition

the regular times in a day when people sit down to eat, together with the food prepared and served at those times

Example

Tariq usually eats three meals a day with his grandmother.

collocation: three meals a day

The hotel price includes a soft bed and two hot meals.

collocation: hot meals

Common collocations
  • three meals a day
  • hot meals
  • light meals
  • school meals
  • ready meals
  • share meals
  • skip meals
Synonyms
  • repasts

    formal or literary; rarely used in everyday Taiwan-learner English

  • feeds

    very informal; mostly British, talking about a big or hearty meal

Antonyms
  • fasts

    periods when meals are skipped on purpose, for religious or health reasons

  • snacks

    small bites between meals, not full eating occasions

Grammar Patterns

three meals a day

have/eat/cook + meals

main/light/hot/cold + meals

Usage Note

Plural form of 'meal'. Often appears in fixed phrases (three meals a day, school meals, hot meals, square meals) where the singular would sound unusual.

Common Mistakes

I eat three foods a day.
I eat three meals a day.
'food' names the substance; 'meal' (and its plural 'meals') names the eating occasion itself.

2. rough powders made by grinding seeds, grains, or other dry materials — for examp

2.nounC1
Definition

rough powders made by grinding seeds, grains, or other dry materials — for example corn meal for cooking, or bone meal sold as garden fertilizer

Example

The farm mixes several seed meals into feed for its dairy cows.

plural pattern: seed/grain meals = different types of ground powder

Élise bought two bags of corn and oat meals at the country market.

collocation: corn meal / oat meal

Common collocations
  • corn meal
  • oat meal
  • bone meal
  • soya meal
  • blood meal
  • fish meal
Synonyms
  • flours

    finer than meals; meal is coarser and grittier

  • grits

    very coarse meal, often hominy; common in American Southern cooking

Grammar Patterns

[grain/seed] + meal (e.g. corn meal, bone meal, soya meal)

different meals = different types of coarse-ground powder

Usage Note

This sense is normally uncountable in the singular ('a bowl of corn meal'). The plural 'meals' only appears when contrasting different kinds: 'corn and oat meals', 'bone and blood meals'. Distinguish from sense 1: here a 'meal' is a powder, not an eating occasion.

Common Mistakes

I added two meals of flour to the dough.
I added two cups of corn meal to the dough.
'meals' here doesn't count portions; it names types of coarse-ground powder.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Meals' names whole eating occasions — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — plus the full set of food served at each. 'Dishes' refers to single prepared items (a pasta dish, a fish dish) that go onto the table; a meal is built from one or more dishes. 'Courses' breaks a single sit-down meal into its ordered parts — starter, main course, dessert — so you eat several courses inside one meal. 'Snacks' are small bites between meals (an apple, a few biscuits), not full eating occasions. So at a Sunday lunch, the family shares one meal, made up of three courses, each one a different dish, and the children might still ask for a snack two hours later.

meals ↗dishes ↗courses ↗snacks ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • school meals
  • ready meals
  • hot meals
  • light meals
  • free meals
  • family meals

Phrases

  • three meals a day
  • skip meals
  • share meals
  • cook meals
  • prepare meals

Prepositions

  • for + [meal name] (for breakfast, for dinner)
  • between meals
  • during meals
  • after meals

Etymology

Old English mǣl (fixed time)Old English melu (ground grain)Middle EnglishModern English

The eating-occasion sense comes from Old English 'mǣl', which originally meant 'a fixed time' or 'an appointed moment' — the same root that gave us the modern '-time' idea in words like 'lifetime'. Over centuries, the 'fixed time' narrowed in everyday speech to 'the fixed time for eating', and then to 'the food eaten at that time'. The coarse-powder sense is from a different Old English word, 'melu', meaning ground grain — related to the verb 'to mill'. So although both words today look identical, they come from two unrelated roots that happened to merge in spelling.