ploughman's lunch

noun

A light meal of bread, cheese, and pickled onions (or cucumbers), etc., especially one served in a pub at lunchtime.

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Meanings

nounploughman's lunch (plural ploughman's lunches or ploughmen's lunches)

plural ploughman's lunches · plural ploughmen's lunches

  1. UKA light meal of bread, cheese, and pickled onions (or cucumbers), etc., especially one served in a pub at lunchtime.

Origin

Originally devised by a marketing executive of the Dairy Council in a 1960-61 advertising campaign to sell English cheese and beer.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ploughman's lunch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ploughman's%20lunch

MLA

“ploughman's lunch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ploughman's%20lunch. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ploughman's lunch,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ploughman's%20lunch.

Source: ploughman's lunch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.