Meaning & use
dinner out
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformal
An evening meal eaten at a restaurant or someone else's home instead of cooking and eating at home.
Grammar: Usually singular with a: we had a dinner out.
Patterns
- have a dinner out
- a dinner out with someone
- treat someone to a dinner out
We had a lovely dinner out to celebrate our anniversary.
A dinner out once a month is our family treat.
After the exam, she treated her parents to a dinner out.
Word forms
| plural | dinners out |
|---|
Common combinations
- have a dinner out
- Let's have a dinner out on Friday.
- enjoy a dinner out
- They enjoyed a dinner out after the long week.
- a nice dinner out
- We splurged on a nice dinner out for her birthday.
- treat someone to a dinner out
- He treated his sister to a dinner out.
- a romantic dinner out
- A romantic dinner out is a classic date idea.
Synonyms and how they differ
- eating out
- Eating out is a general activity phrase and can be for any meal, while dinner out names one specific evening meal.
- restaurant meal
- A restaurant meal is neutral and doesn't suggest a social outing the way dinner out does.
- night out
- A night out covers the whole evening and may include a show or drinks, whereas dinner out is only the meal.
- dining out
- Dining out sounds a little more formal than dinner out.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: dinner out or takeout?
dinner out vs takeout
Takeout is food you buy and carry away to eat elsewhere, while dinner out means eating at the restaurant itself.
Practice
We usually cook at home, but on Saturday we are having a ___ to celebrate her promotion.
Choose one answer.
A dinner out is a meal eaten at a restaurant. The other phrases are not used with this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dinner out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.