undermeal

plural undermeals

1. obsoleteSynonym of undern: originally terce and the morning, later (UK, dialectal, obsolete) noon and the early afternoon.

   By the time—he hath din'd at a taverne, and slept his undermeals at a bawdy-house, his purse is [empty].

   1599, Nash, Leuten Stuff

   Synonyms: undern

2. obsoleteSynonym of siesta: an afternoon nap.

   In a narrower limit than the forty years' undermeal of the seven sleepers.

   1599, Nash, Leuten Stuff

   Synonyms: siesta, shut-eye

3. obsoleteAn afternoon meal or snack.

   I think I am furnished for [=with] Cather'ne pears, [enough] for one undermeal.

   c. 1614-1631, Ben Johnson, Bartholomew Fayre: A Comedy

   2 more examples

   Another great supper, or undermeal, was made ready for them, coming home from ditching and plowing.

   1608, Withals

   Why should not thy soul have her due drinks, breakfasts, meals, undermeals, bevers, and aftermeals, as well as thy body?'

   1630, Samuel Ward, “Sermon on the Life of Faith, quoted in 1883”, in Kingsthorpiana; Or, Researches in a Church Chest, page 97

   Synonyms: meal