See Also: Meal(medicine)
meal(dictionary)
meal(5)(dictionary)
meal(4)(dictionary)
meal(3)(dictionary)
meal(2)(dictionary)
limb-meal(dictionary)
ready meal(dictionary)
barium meal(medicine)
meal ticket(dictionary)

meal(3) (iou)



meal noun2. [mi:l] Also mele.

1. A measure. Long obsolete exc. as -MEAL. OE.
2. An occasion of taking food, esp. a customary one at a more or less fixed time of day; the food eaten at or provided for such an occasion. OE.
make a meal of (a) consume as a meal, devour; (b) treat in an overfussy manner, make (a task etc.) seem unduly laborious.
3. The quantity of milk given by a cow at one milking; the time of milking. Now dial. E17.
Comb.: meal-pennant: displayed during mealtimes in the US navy and on yachts; a red pennant; meals-on-wheels noun & adjective (designating) a service, usually provided by a women's voluntary organization, whereby meals are delivered to old people, invalids, etc.; meal-ticket a ticket entitling a person to a meal, esp. at a specified place for a reduced cost; fig. a source of income or livelihood, esp. a husband or wife regarded merely as such; mealtide (obsolete exc. Scot.) mealtime; one's food; mealtime the (usual) time for eating a meal.
mealless [-l-l-] adjective L19.