lunch

[luhnch] / lʌntʃ /

NOUN

midday meal

Synonyms

STRONG

luncheon

WEAK

high tea snack tea

Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for lunch?

The word lunch originally comes from a shortening of luncheon, which was once used to mean the same thing but now more specifically refers to a formal lunch held in connection with a meeting or other special occasion. Lunch is the midday meal, commonly eaten around noon (though later in some places). The time at which you eat lunch is called lunchtime. A late lunch is one eaten later than usual. Lunch isn’t always defined by the time it’s eaten, though. In some places, a midday meal is called dinner when it’s the main meal of the day. A light lunch is one that’s not too heavy or filling. A hot lunch is one that consists of hot foods, as opposed to cold food, like cold sandwiches. A packaged lunch provided at an event is often called a box lunch (or a boxed lunch). A lunch that you pack for yourself is often called a brown-bag lunch. The term bag lunch (or bagged lunch) can refer to one that’s provided or one that you packed yourself. The period allotted to eat lunch during a workday is called a lunch break or the lunch hour. In school, this is often called the lunch period. A business meeting conducted over lunch can be called a business lunch, a lunch meeting, or a power lunch. According to popular wisdom, there is no such thing as a free lunch. To do lunch means to meet someone for lunch. This is often called a lunch date. Brunch is a meal that’s like a combination of breakfast and lunch, typically eaten between breakfast time and lunchtime. A midmorning break for a snack—eaten after breakfast but before lunch—can be called elevenses (in reference to being eaten around 11 a.m.). In the U.K., the term high tea refers to a late afternoon or early evening meal similar to a light supper. Lunch can also be a verb, though this is quite formal and is much less commonly used. To lunch means to eat lunch, or to eat something specific for lunch, as in We lunched on sandwiches. More specifically, it can mean to engage in lunch as an activity, as in First we’ll visit the museum, then we’ll lunch, then we’ll see a show.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

lunch lunches lunched lunching

Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said that checks that included one of those beverages were up roughly 50% compared with the full-day average, with most sold after lunch, when the traffic rush dies down.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.3% after trading lower earlier, similar to China’s Shanghai Composite Index, which gained 1.7% after the lunch break.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

Orban chose cheese, Vučiċ meat, when they sat down to a quick lunch of traditional burek pastries at a small, popular town centre bakery in Subotica almost a year ago.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026

A 2025 profile on Bumper by local publication Edible Monterey Bay credits him with transforming “an unpopular heat-and-serve lunch program into a from-scratch operation” that featured locally grown produce.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

My stomach gave an angry snarl to remind me that skipping lunch to study for this recap had been a big fat waste.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

One advantage of being 70 is that we keep getting invited to free dinners and lunches.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

Giamanco told OPB the day of the attack began with breakfast and packed lunches.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

And beachgoers now bring packed lunches instead of stopping at Captain Bob’s Chowder Sisters, said Melissa Huddleston, waiting for customers at her sister-in-law’s shop on Sunday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

The agenda is big on healthier lunches in schools, and the campaign is calling for public policy to “integrate healthy food into how Michigan delivers healthcare.”

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026

Unfortunately, the room was full of confusing odors—popcorn, tomato sauce of tacos eaten by those who bought school lunches, peanut butter, bologna, egg, orange, banana eaten by those who brought lunches from home.

From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary

They never divorced and lunched together almost daily.

From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025

My friends and I lunched in the spring shade of Surprise Arch, a natural stone arch sandwiched between two massive rock walls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2024

In the statement Monday noting Rubiales’ resignation, after Ceferin had lunched with the women delegates, there was praise but not words of solidarity toward the Spanish players or women’s soccer in general.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023

Then had come a break before the fourth round, so Scheffler and McIlroy and Jon Rahm and others had lunched together.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2022

Having enjoyed a good morning's motoring in splendid weather, and having lunched well at a country inn, I had just crossed the border into Dorset.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

The two leaders ended up getting on well, even lunching together at times, despite belonging to different camps, said a senior U.S. defense official.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Munir accompanied Sharif during a visit to Washington in June, lunching with Trump.

From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026

A walkway runs along the length of it, passing by a giant dinosaur skeleton, a beach volleyball pitch and dozens of Googlers lunching under the hazy November sun.

From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025

When he returns to Mar-a-Lago in the afternoon, members lunching on the patio often stand and applaud.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

I thought about a baby rabbit that our dog, Moody Blue, caught and carried around—she was not actually lunching on the rabbit, just playing.

From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech

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