1.
[syn: meal, repast]
2. any of the occasions for eating food that occur by custom or habit at more or less fixed times;
3. coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal grasses or pulse;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Meal \Meal\ (m[=e]l), n. [OE. mele, AS. m[=ae]l part, portion,
portion of time; akin to E. meal a repast. Cf. Piecemeal.]
A part; a fragment; a portion. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Meal \Meal\, n. [OE. mel; akin to E. meal a part, and to D. maal
time, meal, G. mal time, mahl meal, Icel. m[=a]l measure,
time, meal, Goth. m[=e]l time, and to E. measure. See
Measure.]
The portion of food taken at a particular time for the
satisfaction of appetite; the quantity usually taken at one
time with the purpose of satisfying hunger; a repast; the act
or time of eating a meal; as, the traveler has not eaten a
good meal for a week; there was silence during the meal.
[1913 Webster]
What strange fish
Hath made his meal on thee? --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Meal \Meal\, n. [OE. mele, AS. melu, melo; akin to D. meel, G.
mehl, OHG. melo, Icel. mj["o]l, SW. mj["o]l, Dan. meel, also
to D. malen to grind, G. mahlen, OHG., OS., & Goth. malan,
Icel. mala, W. malu, L. molere, Gr. my`lh mill, and E. mill.
[root]108. Cf. Mill, Mold soil, Mole an animal,
Immolate, Molar.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Grain (esp. maize, rye, or oats) that is coarsely ground
and unbolted; also, a kind of flour made from beans,
pease, etc.; sometimes, any flour, esp. if coarse.
[1913 Webster]
2. Any substance that is coarsely pulverized like meal, but
not granulated.
[1913 Webster]
Meal beetle (Zool.), the adult of the meal worm. See Meal
worm, below.
Meal moth (Zool.), a lepidopterous insect (Asopia
farinalis), the larvae of which feed upon meal, flour,
etc.
Meal worm (Zool.), the larva of a beetle (Tenebrio
molitor) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and
is very injurious to flour and meal.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Meal \Meal\, v. t.
1. To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. To pulverize; as, mealed powder.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
meal
n 1: the food served and eaten at one time [syn: meal,
repast]
2: any of the occasions for eating food that occur by custom or
habit at more or less fixed times
3: coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal
grasses or pulse
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
101 Moby Thesaurus words for "meal":
C ration, K ration, air pollution, allotment, allowance, attritus,
barley, bird seed, board, bran, breakfast, carry too far, cat food,
chicken feed, chop, chow, collation, commons, consume, corn,
cosmic dust, crumb, crumble, devour, dinner, dog food, dust,
dust ball, eat, eatage, efflorescence, emergency rations, ensilage,
entertainment, fallout, fare, farina, feast, feed, feed on,
field rations, filings, flour, fodder, food, forage, go overboard,
go to extremes, go too far, grain, grits, groats, grub, hay,
ingest, kittens, lint, lunch, luncheon, mash, meals, meat, mess,
nourishment, oats, overdo, overplay, partake of, pasturage,
pasture, pet food, powder, provender, pussies, raspings, rations,
refection, refreshment, regalement, repas, repast, sawdust,
scratch, scratch feed, short commons, silage, slops, smut, snack,
soot, spread, straw, supper, swill, table, take, tea, treat,
tucker, victuals, wheat