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DINNER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
Example:
on Sundays they had a large dinner when they returned from church
Classified under:
Nouns denoting foods and drinks
Hypernyms ("dinner" is a kind of...):
meal; repast (the food served and eaten at one time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dinner"):
high tea (substantial early evening meal including tea)
Derivation:
dine (give dinner to; host for dinner)
dine (have supper; eat dinner)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A party of people assembled to have dinner together
Example:
guests should never be late to a dinner party
Synonyms:
dinner; dinner party
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("dinner" is a kind of...):
party (a group of people gathered together for pleasure)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dinner"):
banquet; feast (a ceremonial dinner party for many people)
beanfeast (an annual dinner party given by an employer for the employees)
Derivation:
dine (give dinner to; host for dinner)
dine (have supper; eat dinner)
Context examples:
A moment later, as I started down the companion stairs to lay the table for dinner, I heard him loudly cursing some men amidships.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
"Mayn't we come over some day while you are at your sister's? Or, better yet, won't you come over and have dinner with us?"
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow up this clue while it is still hot.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a little disconcerting to me, to find, when I was being helped up behind the coach, that I was supposed to have eaten all the dinner without any assistance.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
One day last week—on Thursday night, to be more exact—I found that I could not sleep, having foolishly taken a cup of strong café noir after my dinner.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She had provided a plentiful dinner for them; she wished she could know that they had been allowed to eat it.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
She could scarcely eat any dinner, and when they afterwards returned to the drawing room, seemed anxiously listening to the sound of every carriage.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
The next step is the note received by Garcia at the dinner.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The dinner too in its turn was highly admired; and he begged to know to which of his fair cousins the excellency of its cooking was owing.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
She gave each a little piece of bread, and said: “There is something for your dinner, but do not eat it up before then, for you will get nothing else.”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
