Supper

/ˈsʌpə/ · noun

Meaning

An optional light meal consumed shortly before going to bed..

Definitions by Sense

1. An optional light meal consumed shortly before going to bed.
2. (Midwestern US, Canadian Prairies, Atlantic Canada, South Africa) Any meal eaten in the evening; dinner eaten in the evening, rather than at noon.
3. (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England, slang) A meal from a chip shop consisting of a deep-fried food with chips.
4. (intransitive) To consume a snack before going to bed.
5. (intransitive) To eat dinner.
6. (transitive) To provide (a person or animal) with supper.
7. A drinker, especially one who drinks slowly (i.e., one who sups).

Example Sentences

There he stood, with admirable patience, […] longing to go to rest for hours past; aware that suppers disagreed with him […] so tired and longing for bed!

We normally have supper at 7.

a fish supper

Roisin the savior paraded into the front room with three fish suppers, one sausage supper, one single fish, one single chips, a single sausage, a chicken and chips, and three curry and chips.

Horns in the night-season are heard a great way off, and in the winter-season were blown at every farmer’s house about eight at night when they suppered the horses and cows; […]

I went to supper up my horses, and heard somebody; […] After suppering the horses, I went into the house, and saw Stacey, who asked me if I had suppered the horses.

Foreigners, and deaf-mutes especially, who are not familiar with what we call “good usage,” frequently fall into ludicrous mistakes in framing sentences out of the elements that have been given them. One writes: […] “My friend suppered me” instead of gave me supper. Such expressions are according to rule, and appear singular only because they have not come into general use.

It was Friday when this idea suggested itself to my mind, and, so soon as I had suppered the horses, I dashed into the wood, disturbing pheasants right and left, and forcing the lively rabbits, out for the evening’s sports, to beat a hasty retreat!

Synonyms for supper

Antonyms for supper

Related Words

Word Forms

• suppers
• suppering
• suppered

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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