Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British Tea or coffee taken at midmorning and often accompanied by a snack.
Wiktionary
- n. UK A snack or that is similar to afternoon tea, but eaten in the late morning.
Etymologies
- From dialectal elevens ("the eleven-o'clock meal"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“One of the first Swedish words any new visitor learns is fika, which means a coffee break, usually enjoyed with a little cake or pastry, much like the British term elevenses but with no time restriction.”
“elevenses" - tea sipped while resting on the garden benches.”
“If you are among those who desperately need a coffee break, then go for it at 11 am, as scientists claim a formula they have devised proves that 'elevenses' is the best time to drink your brew.”
“Food will be served from breakfast, and Mr. Gulliver hopes elevenses, a traditionally British snack taken as a stopgap between breakfast and lunch, will make a comeback, and that the bar will be open late.”
“His wife Angie was at work in London and the great man was on the wagon and in gleaming good form; he had knocked off half the Telegraph crossword already and had brewed the elevenses coffee.”
The Guardian: Tears for souvenirs as Best and Stiles memorabilia go up for auction
“They're perfectly edible though and I've been taking one (buttered) to work each day for my elevenses.”
skittledog: Ever notice how everything you make just tends to lean a little to the left?
“Plus, we've always been a grazing, snacking culture – look at our eating opportunities, we have more than anyone else: breakfast, elevenses, lunch, tea, high tea, supper, dinner ...”
“A slither of banana and honey breakfast loaf presents a delicious answer to desk-bound elevenses, says Lynn Enright.”
“I promise it is fantastic: and I forgot to mention my other NY resolution; to celebrate the best of British dining habits by eating elevenses and afternoon tea each day.”
“Then of course I stop at regular intervals to celebrate brekkie, elevenses, luncheon, tea, dinner, supper.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘elevenses’.
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eleven eleven
undecagon, undecennial, hendecasyllabic, enleven, Lysistrata, undecane, Elfstedentocht, endecaphyllous, porsche 911, Secession, testone, Hvergelmir and 16 more...
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Elevensies
eleven, elevens, eleventeen, eleventh, elevenths, eleventy, elevenses, elevensies, eleventh hour, elevenpence, eleven-dimensional, eleven-plus and 12 more...
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Lord of the Rings plurals
Tolkien was particularly fond of reduplicative plurals.
Bagginses, elevenses, handses, dwarves, pocketses, hobbitses, orcses, eyeses
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slackagogo's Words
agelast, aggiornamento, zaftig, wowserism, vox barbara, verbigeration, tchotchke, tautology, sycophant, spoonerism, solipsism, sobriquet and 288 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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British Cant & Slang, Old & New
Mostly, the cant words come from my reprint of Francis Grose's 1785 dictionary of 'The Vulgar Tongue', while the more modern slang has been found at various online sources, e.g. this online diction...
bog-standard, bumbaclot, brown trouser moment, bingo wings, bobfoc, babber, sweating, tantadlin tart, taplash, timber toe, tray trip, twiddle-diddles and 209 more...
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The Way of Tea
All things tea (lingo, paraphernalia, types).
high tea, meat tea, four o'clock tea, five o'clock tea, tea party, teapoy, tea service, tea set, tea tray, teapot, teakettle, tea urn and 150 more...
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Like True Newfoundlanders
A place for me to store my Newfoundland English, as I learn it. (Might take a while.)
screech-in, screech, moose milk, bucklish, buckly, buckaloon, buccaloon, newfoundland sock, rum runner, scravel, newfoundland, oonchook and 112 more...
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Monovocalics
Words that have only one of the vowels. On this list I include only words with at least three vowels. When I first started the list, if a word had several forms, I generally listed only the one wit...
syzygy, mirific, cumulus, homolog, monocot, bedewed, jezebel, referee, bikini, minikin, locomotor, terebenthene and 2359 more...
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words words words
words I'd like to keep close at hand; which make me think of Christmas; which are tasty to the tongue.
liminal, galumph, haberdasher, popinjay, medley, coprolalia, elevenses, smackerel, pootle, chattel, fizgig, benumbed and 3 more...
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Living in Scotland
I moved to Scotland in 2011 and promptly had to learn another language. Here are some of the best additions to my vocabulary.
dreich, numpty, bang on, bog-standard, conkers, elevenses, faff, dekko, tickety-boo, snog, chuff, bell-end
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E is for Elbow Patch
My E Words
elevenses, edelweiss, eeyore, elbow patch, elephant, encyclopedia brown, earlobe, everlasting gobst..., en vague, emotional baggage..., eye opener, early nerd special and 4 more...
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british colloquialisms
slang dict
alright!, arty-farty, beer o'clock, big time, bin, bits and bobs, blighty, blimey, bob's your uncle, bolivian marching..., bolshie, catch you later! and 49 more...
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Brit slang faves
elevenses, butty jam, minge, eppy, blowy, the royal we, oomska, chaff, prossies, fair do's
Tweets
Looking for tweets for elevenses.
ruzuzu See additional comments on elevensies. Nov 12, 2010
chained_bear "neck muscles; splenius.
P 108–170 'Oh, poor man, his elevenses are up.' this means a person is fading, not long for this world, because the two muscles in the back of the neck stick out like two bones resembling 11."
—Dictionary of Newfoundland English, 163 Oct 17, 2008