Meaning & use
food dish
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Meanings
nouncountable
A container, usually shallow and round, that you put food in, especially one used to serve it at a table.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a food dish, two food dishes, the food dish.
Patterns
- a food dish
- put something in a food dish
- serve something in a food dish
She spooned the rice into a large food dish and carried it to the table.
Wash the food dishes before you put them away.
The cat's food dish was empty again by lunchtime.
nouncountable
A particular kind of prepared food with its own name, especially one connected with a place or a tradition.
Grammar: Countable and often used with a place name or a describing word: a local food dish, a classic food dish.
Patterns
- a local food dish
- a traditional food dish
- a classic food dish
Paella is a famous food dish from Spain.
Every region has its own food dishes, and visitors love trying them.
She taught us how to make a traditional food dish from her grandmother's village.
Word forms
| plural | food dishes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a traditional food dish
- The festival is a good place to try a traditional food dish.
- a local food dish
- Ask the waiter to recommend a local food dish.
- a classic food dish
- Roast chicken is a classic food dish in many countries.
- serve something in a food dish
- Serve the salad in a wide food dish so everyone can help themselves.
- a food dish from somewhere
- This is a food dish from the north of the country.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dish
- The shorter word is far more common and can mean either the container or the prepared food, so use it unless you need to make clear that you mean food rather than a plate.
- plate
- A plate is flat and each person usually gets one; a food dish is often deeper and shared by everyone at the table.
- bowl
- A bowl is deep with high sides, good for soup or rice, while a food dish is usually shallower.
- specialty
- This means a dish a place or cook is famous for, so it adds the idea of fame that 'food dish' does not have.
Word family
- dish noun
- A container for food, or the prepared food itself.
- dishware noun
- Plates, bowls and similar containers used for serving food.
- dishful noun
- The amount that one dish holds.
Commonly confused: food dish or dish? food dish or food court?
food dish vs dish
'Dish' alone is the normal everyday word and covers both meanings. 'Food dish' is used when you want to be explicit that food, not a plate for something else, is involved.
food dish vs food court
A food court is an area with several small restaurants, not a container or a recipe, so the two are not interchangeable.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'food dish' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Food dish' means a container for serving food, so asking someone to pass one makes sense. Option 2 and option 3 describe a place, which would be a 'food court', and option 4 treats it as something you can buy and have delivered, which does not fit the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “food dish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.