How do you use "lunch"?

Used uncountably for the general activity and countably for specific events or types of meals. Typically used as an uncountable noun in this sporting context. Takes a direct object, usually a person or a group.

lunch — meaning, definition & examples

Q: What does "lunch" mean?

1. (midday meal) the meal you eat in the middle of the day. 2. (cricket break) a break in a game of cricket between the first and second parts of the day. 3. (to provide lunch for someone) to take someone out and pay for their midday meal.

Q: Is it correct to say "I am going to eat the lunch now."?

No — say "I am going to eat lunch now.". In English, we usually do not use 'the' before names of meals like lunch, breakfast, or dinner unless we are talking about a specific, previously mentioned event.

Word

01midday meal

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. the meal you eat in the middle of the day.

n. a meal eaten in the middle of the day, typically between breakfast and dinner.

“We usually have a quick lunch at our desks so we can finish work early.”

“The business lunch provided an informal setting for the two CEOs to discuss the potential merger without the pressure of a boardroom environment.”

Usage

Used uncountably for the general activity and countably for specific events or types of meals.

Pitfall

I am going to eat the lunch now.

I am going to eat lunch now.

In English, we usually do not use 'the' before names of meals like lunch, breakfast, or dinner unless we are talking about a specific, previously mentioned event.

Synonyms

midday mealluncheon

02cricket break

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Sports British English

n. a break in a game of cricket between the first and second parts of the day.

n. the scheduled interval between the first and second sessions of a day's play.

“The players left the field for lunch with the score at ninety-two for three.”

“By the time the umpires called for lunch, the opening batsmen had successfully navigated the most difficult period of the morning session.”

Usage

Typically used as an uncountable noun in this sporting context.

Synonyms

interval break

03to provide lunch for someone

C1 · Advanced Formal

v. to take someone out and pay for their midday meal.

v. to entertain someone by providing or paying for their lunch. Transitive use.

“The company lunched the visiting clients at an expensive steakhouse downtown.”

“It was standard practice for the firm to lunch prospective recruits at the club to gauge their social graces before making a formal offer.”

Usage

Takes a direct object, usually a person or a group.

Synonyms

host entertain

Recorded since 1580 in the sense “piece, hunk”. The word luncheon with the same meaning is presumably an extension on the pattern of puncheon (“cask”) and truncheon (“cudgel”). But earliest found forms of luncheon include lunshin and lunching, which are equivalent to lunch + -ing, with the suffix -ing possibly later modified to imitate a French origin. In contrast, the more common sense “light meal” is first attested for luncheon in 1652 and for lunch in 1829, so in this sense the latter is probably a shortening of the former. Lunch is possibly a derivative of lump (as hunch is from hump. See hunch for more), or represents an alteration of nuncheon, from Middle English nonechenche (“light midday meal”) (see nuncheon) and altered by northern English dialect lunch (“hunk of bread or cheese”) (1590), which perhaps is from lump or from Spanish lonja (“a slice”, literally “loin”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

NOUN

lunch(A1)

lunchtime(A1)

breakfast brunch dine dinner food supper