Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A lunch, especially a formal one.
- noun An afternoon party at which a light meal is served.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A large lump or piece, as of bread: same as
lunch , Cotgrave. - noun A slight repast: same as
lunch , 2. The form luncheon is now regarded as more “elegant” than lunch. - To take lunch or luncheon.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To take luncheon.
- noun Prov. Eng. A lump of food.
- noun obsolescnet A portion of food taken at any time except at a regular meal.
- noun A lunch, especially one organized by a group as a formal social gathering.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
formal meal served in the middle of the day. - verb intransitive, dated To take luncheon.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a midday meal
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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‘lunch’ or ‘luncheon’ has now arrived, as when we read in the newspapers of a “magnificent _luncheon_”, is altogether modern; the word belonged a century ago to rustic life, and in literature had not travelled beyond the “hobnailed pastorals” which professed to describe that life.
English Past and Present Richard Chenevix Trench 1846
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On the way in this morning, I couldn't help thinking of how this luncheon is a sign of the times and will probably cause one or two of this club's founding fathers to roll in their graves.
Holding the Government Accountable for its Management of Risk 2003
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Ladies and gentlemen, this luncheon is the Empire Club's salute to the men and women of Toronto who have committed themselves to bringing a new concert hall to this city.
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The awards luncheon is on May 24 at the Sheraton featuring PBS host Maria Hinojosa.
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OK, the CFW luncheon is $150 a ticket, but it's an awesome event.
Archive 2008-09-01 2008
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OK, the CFW luncheon is $150 a ticket, but it's an awesome event.
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A second luncheon is slated for May 5 in Greenwich, Connecticut.
March 2007 2007
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A Canada Day luncheon is the perfect time for this because while most people think of New Year's as the time for resolutions and new starts, for me, Canada Day is that time, for my dreams are shot through with Canada.
A Canadian Dream 2007
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Aside from a few exceptions, including commissioner Roger Goodell, Hall of Fame executives, trustees and selection committee members, the luncheon is open only to Hall of Famers.
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A second luncheon is slated for May 5 in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Germ of an Idea 2007
rachieroo commented on the word luncheon
This might be my absolute least favorite word.
January 8, 2008
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Right up there with eatery on my list. It sounds like something you'd use to smack someone.
January 8, 2008
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Like a truncheon, only with mustard and mayo. ;-)
January 8, 2008
sionnach commented on the word luncheon
How do you feel about nuncheon?
January 8, 2008
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Strangely enough, nuncheon also sounds like something you'd use to smack someone--kind of a cross between nunchucks and a truncheon.
January 9, 2008
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Skipvia, are you feeling a little hostile today? ;-)
January 9, 2008
yarb commented on the word luncheon
This is a word only the Victorians were qualified to say.
January 9, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
I like this word halfheartedly ONLY when used ironically and followed by meats. Luncheon meats just cracks me up. It feels like an old lady word. Like parlor.
January 9, 2008
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Mmmm...luncheon meats.
January 9, 2008
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Pork 'n' beans!
January 9, 2008
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Can you imagine not breaking into peals of laughter if you saw that in a buffet line? It looks like a bunch of priapic elves doing the backstroke.
January 11, 2008
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
They could be exceptionally large, rough-hewn toothpicks, you know.
January 11, 2008
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
OK--I guess sometimes a hot dog sticking straight up from a vat of pork 'n' beans is just a hot dog sticking straight up from...
Nope...can't buy it. It still looks like an X-rated synchronized swimming event to me.
January 11, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
THANK YOU, skipvia, for making me laugh out loud at work in my CUBICLE, whereupon everyone asks 'what's so funny?' like they have ANY RIGHT to view priapic elves in an X-rated synchronized swimming event!
I will never eat beenie weenies again without thinking of luncheon meats. Or maybe I'll just never eat beenie weenies ag... wait. I never did!
January 11, 2008
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Another much-loved food abandoned after it gets the Wordie Treatment. So sad....
January 11, 2008
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Hey. I didn't bring up luncheon meats.
Wait...that doesn't sound right.
January 11, 2008
asativum commented on the word luncheon
Speaking of which, is there a list of luncheon meats yet? I could use some olive loaf.
Edit: Aw, heck, I just went ahead and added it as an open list. Enjoy!
(And, disturbingly, when I Wikipedia'd olive loaf to make sure it was what I meant, I encountered this line: "This meat-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it." Which reminded me of those priapic aquatic elves again...)
January 17, 2008
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
I love olive loaf!
Wait, maybe I said that too loudly....
January 17, 2008
milosrdenstvi commented on the word luncheon
MIKADO. Now, let's see about your execution--will
after luncheon suit you? Can you wait till then?
KO-KO, PITTI-SING, and POOH-BAH. Oh, yes--we can wait till then!
MIKADO. Then we'll make it after luncheon.
POOH-BAH. I don't want any lunch.
MIKADO. I'm really very sorry for you all, but it's an unjust world, and virtue is triumphant only in theatrical performances.
-- W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado
(that last line is one of the best in the entire language, seconded only closely by Westley in the Princess Bride: "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says otherwise is only trying to sell something.")
August 21, 2008
dontcry commented on the word luncheon
Hey..... I have a parlor....
December 19, 2008
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Skipvia, I came across this and thought of you.
Not that way.
July 20, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
Wow. Even the URL is particularly ... interesting.
July 20, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
And then there's this one.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
What is it about wieners that makes people think of me?
July 21, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Perhaps it's your mention of the priapic elves....
July 21, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
Oh, the humanity! WHAT is that child eating? Guts?? Wait... is it even a child?!
Skip, there are worse things to be associated with. Trust me.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
He looks like he's using those wieners as a sort of chaser for whatever it is he is eating. (His mother could have at least cooked them, or maybe put them on a plate.)
July 21, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
I don't think they're chasers. I think that one in his hand is some sort of control stick. And that is not a child. I mean, look at it--there's a third eye growing between the other two!
July 21, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
Well, it might be an alien. See that alien food in front of the bowl of guts?
July 21, 2009
sionnach commented on the word luncheon
It seems to me that his alien creators are not without a sick sense of humor. How else to explain their tracing a sketch of Miss Piggy in freckles on his "face"? (I must confess to not being able to discern the third eye that reesetee refers to)
C_b raises a good point. What one might naively think are olives and bananas could in fact be the bodies of alien soldiers with their shields, just awaiting the call to wreak mayhem on humankind.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Whoa--I thought the freckles were a map to the planet Nebali.
July 21, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Well, that's my point, you see? Wieners are apparently some form of alien...er, tool...to take over Earth. Puts those priapic elves in a whole new light, let me tell you.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Sometimes a wiener is just a wiener. You may already be one.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
I'm starting to really like the word wiener. Wiener, wiener, wiener.
July 21, 2009
dontcry commented on the word luncheon
Ahhhh. Wiener jokes on wordie first thing this morning. It's going to be a good day!
July 21, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
Skip's linked sentence made me think of the old Palmolive ad: "You're soaking in it." I didn't really want to think too hard about how that connects with wieners.
July 21, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Maybe you're right, skip. I'm going to run out and buy one of those wiener ski sweaters right now!
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
*still trying to figure out how "you're soaking in it" connects with wiener*
July 21, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
It doesn't, really. I just thought of it when sionnach said "you may already be one." It's a similarly ominous sentence, just like "you're soaking in it." ... And I wouldn't think any harder about this or things might derail mighty quick.
July 21, 2009
sionnach commented on the word luncheon
I think that c_b is confusing me with an alien wiener. Did I say "you may already be one"? I think not.
July 22, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
Apparently both sionnach and skipvia, to me anyway, are sometimes wieners.
(sorry about that...)
At least I didn't call skipvia an alien wiener, like SOME people around here... AHEM.
;)
July 22, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
I never sausage a conversation in my life.
*ducks rotten tomatoes*
July 22, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
*is relieved*
July 22, 2009
sionnach commented on the word luncheon
Tsk, tsk, c_b - you wouldn't be engaging in a little phony umbrage-taking now, would you? Besides which, I don't think the term "alien" is necessarily pejorative. The U.S. government's official designation for me is "resident alien".
But of course I was just joshing. I hope that skip understands that I hold him in the highest esteem, grovel grovel etc etc.
The "soaking in it" part of this conversation confuses me enormously.
July 22, 2009
dontcry commented on the word luncheon
*sneaks a bit of phony umbrage out between aliens, weiners and rotten tomatoes*
July 22, 2009
dontcry commented on the word luncheon
*runs off to parlor to stash it*
July 22, 2009
dontcry commented on the word luncheon
*plans to mention this caper at the luncheon tomorrow*
July 22, 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word luncheon
*Considers cancelling luncheon on account of mysterious phony umbrage in parlour.*
July 22, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
No problem, sionnach. You're soaking in it. (hint: click on link, then click on other link. Not that all will be made clear, but at least you won't be on this page anymore, what with the alien life-form eating guts.)
July 22, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
And no one sees that third eye?
July 22, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word luncheon
Is it a glowing white thing? If so, I saw it.
If it's a freckle, I'm afraid the creature has more than just three. (Not that there's anything wrong with freckles, except on creatures that eat raw guts, or on creatures, like this one, who obviously had them painted on in a failed attempt to appear humanoid.)
July 22, 2009
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Yes! Yes, it's a glowing white thing! You see? It's an alien wiener wielder, that faux-freckled creature.
July 22, 2009
pterodactyl commented on the word luncheon
I just read reesetee's sausage comment, over a year after he wrote it, and laughed so hard I nearly choked on my food. Note to self: lunching while reading Wordnik can be hazardous to your health!
March 5, 2011
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
Ptero, I just read the entire page again and laughed so hard I woke up a flock of sleeping birds. In the house, that is.
I hope you've recovered from the choking episode. :-)
March 27, 2011
plethora commented on the word luncheon
*still loves this page*
November 5, 2011
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
*returns to this page for a laugh*
*laughs*
March 5, 2012
reesetee commented on the word luncheon
In the interest of providing comparative images, I humbly present this jewel. More on this fascinating...uh...concoction?...is available here.
I miss Skip.
March 22, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word luncheon
Oh God. Is that whipped cream? My eyes! My eyes!
March 22, 2012
blafferty commented on the word luncheon
Mayonnaise? MAYONNAISE?? Gaaaaah.
hork
March 23, 2012
madmouth commented on the word luncheon
what Little Edie Bouvier calls the cats out to
March 19, 2014
ruzuzu commented on the word luncheon
Ye Gods. I just looked at the banana pictures again--it *was* mayonnaise. Ew.
March 19, 2014