lunch

plural lunches

1. countableuncountableA light meal usually eaten around midday, notably when not as main meal of the day.

   We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   Synonyms: luncheon, nones

2. countableuncountableball gamesA break in play between the first and second sessions.
3. UScountableuncountableMinnesotaAny small meal, especially one eaten at a social gathering.

   After the funeral there was a lunch for those who didn't go to the cemetery.

   1 more example

   “Oh, you mustn’t dream of going home without your tea,” cried Anne in distress. “I’ll get it right off—I’ll go and put the tea down this very minute.” “I must go home,” repeated Diana, stupidly but determinedly. “Let me get you a lunch anyhow,” implored Anne. “Let me give you a bit of fruit-cake and some of the cherry preserves. […]”

   1908, L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

4. countableobsoleteuncountableA thin piece or hunk (of bread, meat, etc.)

present singular third person lunches · participle present lunching · participle past lunched · past lunched

1. intransitiveTo eat lunch.

   I like to lunch in Italian restaurants.

   3 more examples

   The gentleman had left for London after lunch. Yes, alone; but he had lunched in the hotel with a lady.

   1909, Frank Sidgwick, Love and battles, page 291

   Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today.

   1934, Cole Porter, Miss Otis Regrets

   Yoshiro Yamawaki, who was 11 years old at the time, was just sitting down to lunch with his brothers when the bomb exploded.

   2026 September 7, Abby Norman, Cara Johnson, “How The Atomic Bombing Of Nagasaki Brought World War 2 To A Violent End”, in All That's Interesting, archived from the original on 09 Sep 2026

2. transitiveTo treat to lunch.

   We dined him, we lunched him, we were photographed in his company by flashlight.

   1906, H. G. Wells, The Future in America: A Search After Realities