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  1. luncheon love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A lunch, especially a formal one.
  2. n. An afternoon party at which a light meal is served.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A large lump or piece, as of bread: same as lunch, Cotgrave.
  2. n. A slight repast: same as lunch, 2. The form luncheon is now regarded as more “elegant” than lunch.
  3. To take lunch or luncheon.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A formal meal served in the middle of the day.
  2. v. intransitive, dated To take luncheon.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Prov. Eng. A lump of food.
  2. n. obsolescnet A portion of food taken at any time except at a regular meal.
  3. n. A lunch, especially one organized by a group as a formal social gathering.
  4. v. To take luncheon.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a midday meal

Etymologies

  1. Probably alteration (influenced by dialectal lunch, hunk of cheese or bread) of obsolete nuncheon, light snack, from Middle English nonshench : none, noon; see noon + schench, drink (from Old English scenc, from scencan, to pour out). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “‘lunch’ or ‘luncheon’ has now arrived, as when we read in the newspapers of a “magnificent _luncheon_”, is altogether modern; the word belonged a century ago to rustic life, and in literature had not travelled beyond the “hobnailed pastorals” which professed to describe that life.”

    English Past and Present

  • “On the way in this morning, I couldn't help thinking of how this luncheon is a sign of the times and will probably cause one or two of this club's founding fathers to roll in their graves.”

    Holding the Government Accountable for its Management of Risk

  • “Ladies and gentlemen, this luncheon is the Empire Club's salute to the men and women of Toronto who have committed themselves to bringing a new concert hall to this city.”

    The Concert Hall as an Artistic Instrument

  • “The awards luncheon is on May 24 at the Sheraton featuring PBS host Maria Hinojosa.”

    Afternoon Fizz: Erica Wins NARAL Award « PubliCola

  • “OK, the CFW luncheon is $150 a ticket, but it's an awesome event.”

    Event:: Chicago Foundation for Women Annual Luncheon

  • “A second luncheon is slated for May 5 in Greenwich, Connecticut.”

    The Germ of an Idea

  • “A Canada Day luncheon is the perfect time for this because while most people think of New Year's as the time for resolutions and new starts, for me, Canada Day is that time, for my dreams are shot through with Canada.”

    A Canadian Dream

  • “Aside from a few exceptions, including commissioner Roger Goodell, Hall of Fame executives, trustees and selection committee members, the luncheon is open only to Hall of Famers.”

    Behind the scenes at exclusive Hall of Fame luncheon

  • ““Then you change your dress, my lord, for dinner, if we call our luncheon by that name?” said Mowbray.”

    Saint Ronan's Well

  • “Their luncheon is light-a dish of sardines, a pomegranate, and a loaf of bread-but it is more than enough.”

    Excerpt: The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

Show 10 more examples...

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hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. repast
  1. meal

hyponyms (1)

Words that are more specific

  1. business lunch

same context (22)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. lunch
  2. repast
  3. picnic
  4. banquet
  1. refreshment
  2. dessert
  3. dine
  4. tea
  1. reception
  2. concert
  3. gathering
  4. entertainment
  1. nap
  2. cocktail
  3. wed
  4. salad
  1. champagne
  2. fare
  3. celebration
  4. conference
  1. excursion
  2. holiday

reverse dictionary (29)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. basket-meeting
  2. lunchmeat
  3. lunch
  4. luncheon
  5. mummet
  1. serve
  2. patisserie
  3. noonmeat
  4. nunch
  5. nuncheon
  1. stull
  2. bait
  3. bait-poke
  4. chack
  5. dinette
  1. luncheon-bar
  2. Manet
  3. tiffin
  4. collation
  5. crib
  1. Renoir
  2. keynote
  3. buffet
  4. date
  5. muster
  1. nunchion
  2. nacket
  3. snack
  4. tiffing

tags (4)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. conversations of legend
  1. horkfest
  1. cvcccvvc
  1. banana candle

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Wordmap

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Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘luncheon’.

Comments

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  • blafferty Mayonnaise? MAYONNAISE?? Gaaaaah.
    hork Mar 23, 2012

  • ruzuzu Oh God. Is that whipped cream? My eyes! My eyes! Mar 22, 2012

  • reesetee In the interest of providing comparative images, I humbly present this jewel. More on this fascinating...uh...concoction?...is available here.

    I miss Skip. Mar 22, 2012

  • reesetee *returns to this page for a laugh*

    *laughs* Mar 5, 2012

  • plethora *still loves this page* Nov 5, 2011

  • reesetee Ptero, I just read the entire page again and laughed so hard I woke up a flock of sleeping birds. In the house, that is.

    I hope you've recovered from the choking episode. :-) Mar 26, 2011

  • pterodactyl I just read reesetee's sausage comment, over a year after he wrote it, and laughed so hard I nearly choked on my food. Note to self: lunching while reading Wordnik can be hazardous to your health! Mar 5, 2011

  • reesetee Yes! Yes, it's a glowing white thing! You see? It's an alien wiener wielder, that faux-freckled creature. Jul 22, 2009

  • chained_bear Is it a glowing white thing? If so, I saw it.

    If it's a freckle, I'm afraid the creature has more than just three. (Not that there's anything wrong with freckles, except on creatures that eat raw guts, or on creatures, like this one, who obviously had them painted on in a failed attempt to appear humanoid.) Jul 22, 2009

  • reesetee And no one sees that third eye? Jul 22, 2009

  • chained_bear No problem, sionnach. You're soaking in it. (hint: click on link, then click on other link. Not that all will be made clear, but at least you won't be on this page anymore, what with the alien life-form eating guts.) Jul 22, 2009

  • PossibleUnderscore *Considers cancelling luncheon on account of mysterious phony umbrage in parlour.* Jul 22, 2009

  • dontcry *plans to mention this caper at the luncheon tomorrow* Jul 22, 2009

  • dontcry *runs off to parlor to stash it* Jul 22, 2009

  • dontcry *sneaks a bit of phony umbrage out between aliens, weiners and rotten tomatoes* Jul 22, 2009

  • sionnach Tsk, tsk, c_b - you wouldn't be engaging in a little phony umbrage-taking now, would you? Besides which, I don't think the term "alien" is necessarily pejorative. The U.S. government's official designation for me is "resident alien".

    But of course I was just joshing. I hope that skip understands that I hold him in the highest esteem, grovel grovel etc etc.

    The "soaking in it" part of this conversation confuses me enormously. Jul 22, 2009

  • skipvia *is relieved* Jul 21, 2009

  • reesetee I never sausage a conversation in my life.

    *ducks rotten tomatoes* Jul 21, 2009

  • chained_bear Apparently both sionnach and skipvia, to me anyway, are sometimes wieners.

    (sorry about that...)

    At least I didn't call skipvia an alien wiener, like SOME people around here... AHEM.
    ;) Jul 21, 2009

  • sionnach I think that c_b is confusing me with an alien wiener. Did I say "you may already be one"? I think not. Jul 21, 2009

  • chained_bear It doesn't, really. I just thought of it when sionnach said "you may already be one." It's a similarly ominous sentence, just like "you're soaking in it." ... And I wouldn't think any harder about this or things might derail mighty quick. Jul 21, 2009

  • skipvia *still trying to figure out how "you're soaking in it" connects with wiener* Jul 21, 2009

  • reesetee Maybe you're right, skip. I'm going to run out and buy one of those wiener ski sweaters right now! Jul 21, 2009

  • chained_bear Skip's linked sentence made me think of the old Palmolive ad: "You're soaking in it." I didn't really want to think too hard about how that connects with wieners. Jul 21, 2009

  • dontcry Ahhhh. Wiener jokes on wordie first thing this morning. It's going to be a good day! Jul 21, 2009

  • skipvia I'm starting to really like the word wiener. Wiener, wiener, wiener. Jul 21, 2009

  • skipvia Sometimes a wiener is just a wiener. You may already be one. Jul 21, 2009

  • reesetee Well, that's my point, you see? Wieners are apparently some form of alien...er, tool...to take over Earth. Puts those priapic elves in a whole new light, let me tell you. Jul 21, 2009

  • skipvia Whoa--I thought the freckles were a map to the planet Nebali. Jul 21, 2009

  • sionnach It seems to me that his alien creators are not without a sick sense of humor. How else to explain their tracing a sketch of Miss Piggy in freckles on his "face"? (I must confess to not being able to discern the third eye that reesetee refers to)

    C_b raises a good point. What one might naively think are olives and bananas could in fact be the bodies of alien soldiers with their shields, just awaiting the call to wreak mayhem on humankind. Jul 21, 2009

  • chained_bear Well, it might be an alien. See that alien food in front of the bowl of guts? Jul 20, 2009

  • reesetee I don't think they're chasers. I think that one in his hand is some sort of control stick. And that is not a child. I mean, look at it--there's a third eye growing between the other two! Jul 20, 2009

  • skipvia He looks like he's using those wieners as a sort of chaser for whatever it is he is eating. (His mother could have at least cooked them, or maybe put them on a plate.) Jul 20, 2009

  • chained_bear Oh, the humanity! WHAT is that child eating? Guts?? Wait... is it even a child?!

    Skip, there are worse things to be associated with. Trust me. Jul 20, 2009

  • reesetee Perhaps it's your mention of the priapic elves.... Jul 20, 2009

  • skipvia What is it about wieners that makes people think of me? Jul 20, 2009

  • reesetee And then there's this one. Jul 20, 2009

  • chained_bear Wow. Even the URL is particularly ... interesting. Jul 20, 2009

  • reesetee Skipvia, I came across this and thought of you.

    Not that way. Jul 20, 2009

  • dontcry Hey..... I have a parlor.... Dec 18, 2008

  • milosrdenstvi MIKADO. Now, let's see about your execution--will
    after luncheon suit you? Can you wait till then?
    KO-KO, PITTI-SING, and POOH-BAH. Oh, yes--we can wait till then!
    MIKADO. Then we'll make it after luncheon.
    POOH-BAH. I don't want any lunch.
    MIKADO. I'm really very sorry for you all, but it's an unjust world, and virtue is triumphant only in theatrical performances.

    -- W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado

    (that last line is one of the best in the entire language, seconded only closely by Westley in the Princess Bride: "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says otherwise is only trying to sell something.") Aug 20, 2008

  • reesetee I love olive loaf!

    Wait, maybe I said that too loudly.... Jan 17, 2008

  • asativum Speaking of which, is there a list of luncheon meats yet? I could use some olive loaf.

    Edit: Aw, heck, I just went ahead and added it as an open list. Enjoy!

    (And, disturbingly, when I Wikipedia'd olive loaf to make sure it was what I meant, I encountered this line: "This meat-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it." Which reminded me of those priapic aquatic elves again...) Jan 17, 2008

  • skipvia Hey. I didn't bring up luncheon meats.

    Wait...that doesn't sound right. Jan 11, 2008

  • reesetee Another much-loved food abandoned after it gets the Wordie Treatment. So sad.... Jan 11, 2008

  • chained_bear THANK YOU, skipvia, for making me laugh out loud at work in my CUBICLE, whereupon everyone asks 'what's so funny?' like they have ANY RIGHT to view priapic elves in an X-rated synchronized swimming event!

    I will never eat beenie weenies again without thinking of luncheon meats. Or maybe I'll just never eat beenie weenies ag... wait. I never did! Jan 11, 2008

  • skipvia OK--I guess sometimes a hot dog sticking straight up from a vat of pork 'n' beans is just a hot dog sticking straight up from...

    Nope...can't buy it. It still looks like an X-rated synchronized swimming event to me. Jan 10, 2008

  • reesetee They could be exceptionally large, rough-hewn toothpicks, you know. Jan 10, 2008

  • skipvia Can you imagine not breaking into peals of laughter if you saw that in a buffet line? It looks like a bunch of priapic elves doing the backstroke. Jan 10, 2008

  • reesetee Pork 'n' beans! Jan 9, 2008

  • skipvia Mmmm...luncheon meats. Jan 9, 2008

  • chained_bear I like this word halfheartedly ONLY when used ironically and followed by meats. Luncheon meats just cracks me up. It feels like an old lady word. Like parlor. Jan 9, 2008

  • yarb This is a word only the Victorians were qualified to say. Jan 8, 2008

  • reesetee Skipvia, are you feeling a little hostile today? ;-) Jan 8, 2008

  • skipvia Strangely enough, nuncheon also sounds like something you'd use to smack someone--kind of a cross between nunchucks and a truncheon. Jan 8, 2008

  • sionnach How do you feel about nuncheon? Jan 8, 2008

  • reesetee Like a truncheon, only with mustard and mayo. ;-) Jan 8, 2008

  • skipvia Right up there with eatery on my list. It sounds like something you'd use to smack someone. Jan 8, 2008

  • rachieroo This might be my absolute least favorite word. Jan 8, 2008

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‘luncheon’ has been looked up 2932 times, loved by 1 person, added to 16 lists, commented on 59 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.