noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A Japanese takeaway lunch served in a box, often with the food arranged into an elaborate design. also, attributive
2. 2
   Synonym of bento box (“a partitioned, traditionally lacquered, lunchbox in which a Japanese takeaway lunch is served”).
3. 3
   A generic meal packed in a disposable bento box. Singapore, broadly

   "Typical Singaporean lunch bento wolved down in 5 minutes"

4. 4
   A menu icon of nine squares in a grid.
5. 5
   A layout consisting of cards arranged in a modular, irregularly partitioned grid.

Synonyms

All synonyms

bento box

Example

More examples

"Don't put bell peppers in the bento."

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 弁(べん)当(とう) (bentō). Doublet of biandang.

Related phrases

bento box

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.