Definition of MEAL

meal

Meanings

Plural: meals

Noun

  • the food served and eaten at one time
  • any of the occasions for eating food that occur by custom or habit at more or less fixed times
  • coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal grasses or pulse
  • Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to a snack).
  • Food served or eaten as a repast.
  • A break taken by a police officer in order to eat.
  • A time or an occasion.
  • 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).
  • Any of various similarly granular materials prepared from other sources, such as bones or wood.
  • Any of various other granular or powdery materials, either ground by humans or occurring in nature, named figuratively after a resemblance to grain meal.
  • A speck or spot.
  • A part; a fragment; a portion.

Verb

  • To yield or be plentiful in meal.
  • To defile or taint.

Origin / Etymology

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”).

Synonyms

meal, mese, refection, repast

Scrabble Score: 6

meal is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
meal is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
meal is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

meal is a valid Words With Friends word