DINNER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dinner mean? 

• DINNER (noun)
  The noun DINNER has 2 senses:

1. the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday

2. a party of people assembled to have dinner together

  Familiarity information: DINNER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DINNER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Context example:

on Sundays they had a large dinner when they returned from church

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

dinner; dinner party

Context example:

guests should never be late to a dinner party

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 

The next instant it was gone—and so was our dinner.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was so much to do, getting the boxes ready to go tomorrow, that I didn't come home to dinner.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Thanksgiving found him with his black suit in pawn and unable to accept the Morses' invitation to dinner.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Fortunately there was another entrance to the drawing-room than that through the saloon where they were all seated at dinner.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When dinner was done, the master horse took me aside, and by signs and words made me understand the concern he was in that I had nothing to eat.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Mars will be in your eleventh house of events, so if you are single, a friend might invite you to a dinner party.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

They were, consequently, to stay the night there, and not to be expected back till the next day's dinner.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I should like to dine with him; I dare say he gives famous dinners.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

It was twelve o'clock before I got any satisfactory hint of such a building, and this I got at a coffee-shop, where some workmen were having their dinner.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Three-forty is our train, and I fancy we should be back in Baker Street for dinner.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)