Meal

Meal (mēl) , noun

[Old English mele, Anglo-Saxon mal part, portion, portion of time; akin to English meal a repast. Compare Piecemeal.]

A part; a fragment; a portion. [Obsolete]

Meal , noun

[Old English mel; akin to English meal a part, and to Dutch maal time, meal, German mal time, mahl meal, Icelandic māl measure, time, meal, Gothic mēl time, and to English measure. See Measure.]

The portion of food taken at a particular time for the satisfaction of appetite; the quantity usually taken at one time with the purpose of satisfying hunger; a repast; the act or time of eating a meal; as, the traveler has not eaten a good meal for a week; there was silence during the meal.

What strange fish Hath made his meal on thee? — Shakespeare

Meal , noun

[Old English mele, Anglo-Saxon melu, melo; akin to Dutch meel, German mehl, Old High German melo, Icelandic mjol, SW. mjol, Danish meel, also to Dutch malen to grind, German mahlen, Old High German, Old Saxon, & Gothic malan, Icelandic mala, Welsh malu, Latin molere, Greek my`lh mill, and English mill. r108. Compare Mill, Mold soil, Mole an animal, Immolate, Molar.]

Grain (esp. maize, rye, or oats) that is coarsely ground and unbolted; also, a kind of flour made from beans, peas, etc.; sometimes, any flour, esp. if coarse.

Any substance that is coarsely pulverized like meal, but not granulated.

Collocations (3)

Meal beetle (Zoology) , the adult of the meal worm. See Meal worm, below.

Meal moth (Zoology) , a lepidopterous insect (Asopia farinalis), the larvae of which feed upon meal, flour, etc.

Meal worm (Zoology) , the larva of a beetle (Tenebrio molitor) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and is very injurious to flour and meal.

Meal , transitive verb

To sprinkle with, or as with, meal. — Shakespeare

To pulverize; as, mealed powder.