I. ˈdish noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English disc plate; akin to Old Saxon disk table, Old High German tisc dish, table; all from a prehistoric West Germanic word borrowed from Latin discus dish, disk, quoit, from Greek diskos, from dikein to throw
1.
a. : a large shallow more or less concave vessel (as a platter) in which food is brought to the table for serving ; broadly : any open vessel (as a tureen) similarly used
a deep vegetable dish
b. obsolete : alms dish 1
c. archaic : a drinking vessel
d. dishes plural : table utensils — used especially of those of pottery or china as distinguished from glass drinking vessels and metal implements but sometimes used inclusively
I'll get out the dishes while you lay the silver
you must wash the dishes before you go out
2.
a. : food prepared for the table in a particular fashion
a dish of boiled potatoes
often : food prepared according to a specified cuisine
tasty Armenian dishes
b. : something (as a literary work) resembling a dish of food especially in combining varied ingredients properly blended and seasoned
the yeastiest dish on TV this season — Time
c. : cup of tea
marriage was scarcely his dish
d. slang : an alluring young woman
what a dish my blind date turned out to be
3.
a. : the contents of a dish ; usually : food or drink served in a dish
a dish of strawberries
b. : the capacity of a dish : the quantity measured by a dish : dishful
c. dialect Britain : a trough about 28 inches long, 4 inches deep, and 6 inches wide in which ore is measured
d. dialect Britain : the portion of a mine's product that is paid to the landowner or proprietor
e. dialect Britain : a gallon of tin ore ready for the smelter
4.
a. : any of various shallow concave vessels (as an evaporating dish) ; broadly : something that in shallow concavity is felt to resemble a dish (as a hollow in land or one between the eyes of certain mammals)
b. : the state of being concave or the degree of concavity present
the dish of a wheel
c. slang : home plate
d. : a microwave antenna that is often paraboloid in form and usually highly directive in wave reflection
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to put (as food for serving) into a dish or dishes — often used with up
b. : to present for acceptance — usually used with up
dished up another explanation
c. : to make widely known : disseminate — usually used with up
dishing up the latest scandal
2.
a. : to make concave like a dish
a boiler with both ends dished
— often used with in
several car tops were dished in by the concussion
b. : hollow
dish a gutter
— often used with out
3. chiefly Britain
a. : circumvent , outwit , cheat
b. : defeat , ruin
4. : to get rid of : set aside : shelve
intransitive verb
1. : to become concave in the middle — used especially of spoke wheels
the rim hit a rock and the wheel dished
2. of a horse : to swing the forefeet sideways in trotting
3. slang : to talk casually : chat , chatter
III. noun
: gossip
inside dish about the most powerful book-review medium — Walter Clemons
IV. transitive verb
1. : to talk or gossip about especially disparagingly
at the bar in the lobby, dishing the show — Couri Hay
— often used in the phrases dish the dirt or dish dirt
dishing the dirt about some married friends of ours — Clare B. Luce
dishing some dirt about his rambunctious private life — Time
2. : to pass (a basketball) to a teammate — often used with off
intransitive verb
1. : gossip ; also : to disclose private or personal information
2. : to pass a basketball to a teammate — often used with off