What does "meal" mean?
Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to a snack).
Meal
/miːl/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to a snack).
- Grammar: meal is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: repast, air pollution, allotment, allowance.
- Useful contrasts: crackers, fast, nosh.
- Usage evidence: This ticket entitles you to a free meal.
How to use "meal"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "meal" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "meal" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "meal" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "meal" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "meal" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "repast" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "meal", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to a snack). countable
"Breakfast is the morning meal, lunch is the noon meal, and dinner, or supper, is the evening meal."
- 2 The ground-up edible part of various grains, used as a basis of food or feed; either flour or a coarser blend than flour (usage varies). countable, uncountable
"Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal."
- 3 A speck or spot. UK, dialectal
- 4 coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal grasses or pulse wordnet
- 5 Food served or eaten as a repast. countable
"a1450, The Macro Playsː If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 Any of various similarly granular materials prepared from other sources, such as bones or wood. countable, uncountable
- 7 A part; a fragment; a portion.
- 8 the food served and eaten at one time wordnet
- 9 A break taken by a police officer in order to eat. informal, uncountable
"They [tape recorders] can be turned off while officers are on meal or in the car to protect their private conversations […]"
- 10 Any of various other granular or powdery materials, either ground by humans or occurring in nature, named figuratively after a resemblance to grain meal. countable, uncountable
- 11 any of the occasions for eating food that occur by custom or habit at more or less fixed times wordnet
- 12 A time or an occasion. countable, obsolete
"Ye wolde wepe at every mele; But for my sone wepe ye never a dele. You would weep at every meal, but for my son you never weep a deal."
Verb
- 1 To yield or be plentiful in meal. intransitive, obsolete
"Of course the yield of grain was small, but much greater than could have been expected; and, the ears being well filled, it mealed well. The pastures were burnt up, so that there was nothing left for the cattle to eat."
- 2 To defile or taint. transitive
"Were he meal'd with that / Which he corrects, than were he tyrannous."
Example
"This ticket entitles you to a free meal."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "meal"?
Common synonyms include: repast, air pollution, allotment, allowance, attritus, banquet.
How do you use "meal" in a sentence?
This ticket entitles you to a free meal.
How do you pronounce "meal"?
Pronounced /miːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English mel, from Old English mǣl (“measure, time, occasion, set time, time for eating, meal”), from Proto-West Germanic *māl, from Proto-Germanic *mēlą, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”). Cognate with West Frisian miel, Dutch maal (“meal, time, occurrence”), German Mal (“time”), Mahl (“meal”), Norwegian Bokmål mål (“meal”), Swedish mål (“meal”); and (from Proto-Indo-European) with Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”), Latin mensus, Russian ме́ра (méra, “measure”), Lithuanian mẽtas. Related to Old English mǣþ (“measure, degree, proportion”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English mele, from Old English melu (“meal, flour”), from Proto-West Germanic *melu, from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“meal, flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, mill”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian moal, Dutch meel, German Mehl, Albanian miell, Proto-Slavic *melvo (“grain to be ground”) (Bulgarian мливо (mlivo)), Dutch malen (“to grind”), German mahlen (“to grind”), Old Irish melim (“I grind”), Latin molō (“I grind”), Tocharian A/B malywët (“you press”)/melye (“they tread on”), Lithuanian málti, Old Church Slavonic млѣти (mlěti), Ancient Greek μύλη (múlē, “mill”). More at mill.
Etymology 3
Variation of mole (compare Scots mail), from Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl, mǣl (“spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-Germanic *mailą (“wrinkle, spot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to soil”). More at mole.