MEAL


Meaning of MEAL in English

I. ˈmēl, esp before pause or consonant ˈmēəl noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English meel mealtime, meal, from Old English mæl appointed time, mealtime, meal; akin to Old High German māl time, Old Norse māl measure, mealtime, Gothic mel time, Latin metiri to measure — more at measure

1.

a. : the portion of food taken at a particular time to satisfy hunger or appetite : repast

b. : an act or the time of eating a meal

2. dialect England

a. : the act or time of milking

b. : the yield of a milking

II. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

: eat , feed

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English mele, from Old English melu; akin to Old High German melo meal, Old Norse mjöl meal, Old High German & Gothic malan to grind, Old Norse mala, Latin molere to grind, Greek mylē mill

1. : the ground seeds of a cereal grass or pulse especially when coarsely ground and unbolted and usually excluding flour of wheat: as

a. : oatmeal

b. obsolete : the finer inner part of such ground seeds

c. : cornmeal

2. : a product resembling seed meal in particle size, texture, or other quality: as

a. : a product obtained by grinding the residue remaining after removal of part of the oil from various nuts and other oily seeds — see oil meal

b. : a product obtained by grinding any of various dried food products (as meat or fish)

c. : a product obtained by rapid crystallization

alum meal

IV. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

transitive verb

1. : to cover with meal or a mealy substance

2. : to reduce (as the constituents of gunpowder) to powder : pulverize

intransitive verb

: to yield or become meal

a flint corn that meals well

V. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English mele, from Old English mēle tub, bucket; akin to Old Norse mælir, a measure

obsolete : a tub or bucket that is sometimes used as a measure

VI. ˈmē(ə)l noun

( -s )

Etymology: Old Norse mælir, a measure; akin to Old Norse māl measure, mealtime — more at meal I

: a variable weight used especially formerly in the Orkney islands

VII. transitive verb

Etymology: perhaps from (assumed) Middle English melen, from Old English -mǣlan; akin to Old High German meilen to stain; denominative from the root of Old English māl spot, blemish — more at mole

obsolete : stain

VIII. ˈmē(ə)l noun

( -s )

Etymology: Old Norse melr; perhaps akin to Old English melu meal — more at meal III

dialect England : sandbank , dune

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.