SNACK


Meaning of SNACK in English

I. snack 1 /snæk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

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

I grabbed a quick snack.

Drinks and light snacks are served at the bar.

snack foods like crisps and peanuts

• • •

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. snack 2 /snæk/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]

[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Probably from snack 'to bite' (14-20 centuries) , probably from Middle Dutch snacken 'to bite at' ]

to eat small amounts of food between main meals or instead of a meal:

I’m trying not to snack between meals.

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