dish
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A container for food, or a particular type of food served
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dishIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdɪʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A piece of dishware normally used as a container for holding or serving food
“We gave them a set of dishes for a wedding present.”
A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle.
metonymic
A particular item of prepared food
“She prepared a special dish for dinner.”
metonymic
A specific type of prepared food.
The contents of such a vessel.
in the plural
Tableware (including cutlery, etc, as well as crockery) that is to be or is being washed after being used to prepare, serve and eat a meal.
verb
informalslang
To gossip; to relay information about the personal situation of another.
transitive
To put in a dish or dishes; serve, usually food.
Make concave; shape like a dish
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A piece of dishware normally used as a container for holding or serving food
Used this way, dish is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“We gave them a set of dishes for a wedding present.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “dish for …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: dish for …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Vesselnoun
“We gave them a set of dishes for a wedding present.”
Particular / specificnoun
“She prepared a special dish for dinner.”
More ways to use dish
- “We gave them a set of dishes for a wedding present.”noun
- “She prepared a special dish for dinner.”noun
- “They served me a dish of rice.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Directional antenna consisting of a parabolic reflector for microwave or radio frequency radiation.
Directional antenna consisting of a parabolic reflector for microwave or radio frequency radiation.
Administer or bestow, as in small portions.
A rack for holding dishes as dishwater drains off of them.
Wag one's tongue.
A towel for drying dishes.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A machine for washing dishes.
A machine for washing dishes.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.