Meaning & use
lunched
Last updated
“lunched” is a form of “lunch”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbintransitive
The past tense and past participle of 'lunch': ate the midday meal, often in a particular place or with someone.
Grammar: No object. Often followed by 'with', 'at' or 'on': she lunched with her editor.
Patterns
- lunched with someone
- lunched at somewhere
- lunched on something
We lunched at a small café near the harbor.
The two ministers lunched together before the meeting.
After the hike, they lunched on bread, cheese and olives.
Word forms
| base form | lunch |
|---|---|
| third person singular | lunches |
| -ing form | lunching |
Common combinations
- lunched with a friend
- She lunched with an old friend on Saturday.
- lunched at a restaurant
- They lunched at an Italian restaurant downtown.
- lunched on sandwiches
- We lunched on sandwiches in the park.
- lunched together
- The directors lunched together every Friday.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dined
- Dined refers to a more formal or evening meal, while lunched is specifically the midday one.
- ate lunch
- Ate lunch is more natural in speech and neutral in tone.
- had lunch
- Had lunch is the everyday way to say it, while lunched sounds more literary or social.
- breakfasted
- Breakfasted refers to the morning meal instead of the midday one.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: lunched or launched?
lunched vs launched
Launched, with an an and an u, means started or sent off, as in launched a boat. Lunched is about eating midday food.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
'Lunched' is the past tense meaning they ate lunch. 'Launched' is a different verb, and the other forms do not fit past time.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lunched”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.