sup ‧ per S3 /ˈsʌpə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: souper , from souper (verb); ⇨ ↑ sup ]
1 . the meal that you have in the early evening SYN dinner :
Why don’t you come over for supper on Friday?
We had supper in a small Italian place.
Have you eaten supper?
2 . British English the very light meal, for example a drink and a piece of cake, that you have just before you go to bed
• • •
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