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!
• • •
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)
• • •
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.