Meal

Breakfast is the morning meal, lunch is the noon meal, and dinner, or supper, is the evening meal.

c1450, Secreta Secretorumː He that will cast meal upon meal is not able to have (a) long life.

c1500, The King and the Hermitː I have been there and taken deal / And have had many (a) merry meal.

1535?, Dyfference Astronː But above all things beware that thou eat not till thou feel thy stomach empty and that it hath made good digestion of the first meal.

1569, Fenton, Wondersː Besides he was so fantastical and unruly in his appetites, that he used no common meats at his meals, but was fed with the combs of cocks, the tongues of peahens.

Ere we will eate our Meale in feare, and ſleepe / In the affliction of theſe terrible Dreames, / That ſhake vs Nightly: […]

SIR, I was thrice at Lamhith, to haue dined with the Archeb. sins your departure, and still he was to dine, at the Court or with some Bishop. But I must and will finde him assoone as I may: and rather at a meale, then otherwise, because I would haue meanes, to participat at large, about our Collation: […]

1640, Richard Brathwait, Ar't asleep Husband? A BOULSTER LECTURE, Stored with all variety of witty Jests, merry Tales, and other pleasant passages; extracted from the choycest Flowers of Phi∣losophy, Poesy, ancient and moderne Historyː Give me but so many meals, and thou shalt find me one of the strongest Turkish males that ever English gennet bore.

1796, Robert Bage, Hermsprong: or, Man As He Is Notː This letter was written whilst my hostess of the George was preparing the last meal I ever was to eat.

1835, Edgar Allan Poe, The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaallː Puss, who seemed in a great measure recovered from her illness, now made a hearty meal of the dead bird, and then went to sleep with much apparent satisfaction.

Indeed, the worthy gentleman, stimulated perhaps by the immediate prospect of being in active service, was in great spirits and good-humour; in proof whereof it may be here remarked that he humorously drank all the beer at a draught, and did not utter, on a rough calculation, more than four-score oaths during the whole progress of the meal.

After the meal, he rinsed the cans they had eaten from (marveling again at his own water extravagance), and when he turned around, Jake was asleep again.

Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. 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.

2016, Melissa Clark, Consider This Permission to Eat Burrata for Dinner in The New York Timesː In this recipe, I go even further, adding a robust salad to turn a lone cheese into a satisfying summer meal.

a1450, The Macro Playsː If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me.

This is the meal pleasantly set . . . . this is the meat and drink for natural hunger, / It is for the wicked just the same as the righteous . . . .

Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

They [tape recorders] can be turned off while officers are on meal or in the car to protect their private conversations […]

“I was on meal when I heard the call on the radio and recognized the address. What the hell?”

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.

[…] by occasion whereoff thai woll than at every mele groche with the kinge […] […] by occasion whereof they will, then at every meal, grouch with the king […]

a1450, Henry Lovelich, The History of the Holy Grailː Which was to them a sorry meal.

a1450, Henry Lovelich, Merlinː Also soon as the dragons together feal, betwixt them shall begin a sorry meal.

a1450, The York Playsː What mean ye.. to make mourning at ilk a meal?

1481, William Caxton, Reynard the Foxː I shall do late you have so much that ten of you should not eat it at one meal.

a1500, Alexander-Cassamus Fragmentː Of all the day throughout, keep I no better meal than on her to think.

c1500, In A Chyrchː Thou couth well weep at every meal.

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.

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.

Were he meal'd with that / Which he corrects, than were he tyrannous.