ENGLISH
REFERENCE

meal

n.
US //ˈmiɫ// UK //mˈiːl// meal
  1. 1 an occasion of eating (n.)
    A1 Beginner

    the food you eat at a certain time of day, such as breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

    an occasion when food is eaten, or the specific portion of food served at such a time.

    Example

    We sat down for a delicious three-course meal at the new Italian restaurant.

    Example

    The hotel provides a balanced morning meal for all guests, featuring a variety of local produce and freshly baked breads.
  2. 2 ground grain (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Technical Cooking

    grain that has been crushed into a coarse powder, used for cooking or animal feed.

    the edible part of a grain or pulse ground to a powder, typically coarser than flour.

    Example

    The recipe calls for a cup of corn meal to give the bread a crunchy texture.

    Example

    The mill produces several grades of bone meal, which are distributed primarily as high-phosphorus organic fertilisers for commercial agriculture.
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  1. 3 a police break (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Informal British English Dialect

    a break that a police officer takes to eat during their shift.

    a scheduled break period for a police officer to consume food while on duty.

    Example

    The officer was on his meal when the emergency call came through.

    Example

    Standard operating procedure dictates that officers must remain reachable by radio even while taking their designated meal during a night shift.
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

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *melh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *melwą Proto-West Germanic *melu Old English melu Middle English mele English meal 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.

Word family
Idioms3 entries

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