PICNIC


Meaning of PICNIC in English

I. pic ‧ nic 1 /ˈpɪknɪk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Date: 1700-1800 ; Language: French ; Origin: pique-nique ]

1 . if you have a picnic, you take food and eat it outdoors, especially in the country:

We decided to have a picnic down by the lake.

go on/for a picnic

We could go on a picnic today.

a picnic table

There is free parking for visitors, as well as a restaurant and picnic area (=a special area with tables where people can have a picnic) .

picnic site/spot/place (=a place that is suitable or pleasant for a picnic)

We found a lovely picnic spot by the river.

picnic basket/hamper (=a container in which you can carry food for a picnic)

► Do not say ‘do a picnic’ or ‘make a picnic’. Say have a picnic.

2 . British English the food that you take to eat outdoors on a picnic:

We’ll take a picnic with us.

picnic lunch/tea/supper

We ate our picnic lunch by the river.

3 . be no picnic informal if something is no picnic, it is very difficult and needs a lot of effort or hard work:

Bringing up six children is no picnic!

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COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs

▪ have a picnic

They were having a picnic on the beach.

▪ go on/go for a picnic

If it's fine, we'll go for a picnic.

■ picnic + NOUN

▪ a picnic area/site (=a special area with tables where people can have picnics)

There is a picnic area next to the car park.

▪ a picnic spot/place (=a place that is suitable for a picnic)

We found a beautiful picnic spot.

▪ a picnic table

▪ a picnic basket/hamper (=a container in which you carry food for a picnic)

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THESAURUS

■ types of meal

▪ breakfast a meal that you eat in the morning

▪ brunch a meal that you eat in the late morning, instead of breakfast or lunch

▪ lunch a meal that you eat in the middle of the day

▪ tea British English a meal that you eat in the afternoon or evening

▪ dinner the main meal of the day, which most people eat in the evening

▪ supper a small meal that you eat in the evening, in British English; the main meal that you eat in the evening, in American English

▪ picnic a meal that you eat outdoors, consisting of food that you cooked or prepared earlier

▪ barbecue a meal that you cook outdoors over hot coals or wood and eat outdoors

▪ snack a small amount of food that is eaten between main meals or instead of a meal

▪ side dish food eaten with the main course, such as vegetables:

I’ll have the salad as a side dish.

▪ course one of the separate parts of a meal, such as the starter or the dessert:

a three-course meal

II. picnic 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle picnicked , present participle picnicking ) [intransitive]

to have a picnic:

We picnicked on the beach.

—picnicker noun [countable] :

The area is very popular with picnickers.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.