Meaning & use
nosh
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Meanings
noununcountableinformalBritish
Food, or a light meal or snack.
Grammar: Mostly uncountable in British English: some nosh, but countable in American use: a nosh.
Patterns
- a bit of nosh
We had some good nosh at the street market.
There was plenty of nosh at the party.
Let's grab some nosh before the film.
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformalAmerican
To eat a snack or small amount of food, especially between meals.
Grammar: Can have an object or none: they noshed on pretzels, we noshed all afternoon.
Patterns
- nosh on something
We noshed on cheese and crackers while we waited.
He noshed at his desk all afternoon.
The kids noshed popcorn through the whole movie.
nouncountableAmericaninformal
A small snack eaten between regular meals, especially in Jewish-American culture.
Grammar: Countable in American usage: a quick nosh.
Patterns
- have a nosh
She stopped for a quick nosh at the deli.
He brought along a little nosh for the road.
They shared a nosh of pickles and rye bread.
Word forms
| third person singular | noshes |
|---|---|
| past tense | noshed |
| past participle | noshed |
| -ing form | noshing |
| plural | noshes |
Common combinations
- grab some nosh
- Let's grab some nosh on the way home.
- nosh on
- The guests noshed on grapes and cheese.
- a bit of nosh
- I could do with a bit of nosh.
- good nosh
- The pub does good nosh.
- quick nosh
- We had a quick nosh before the match.
Synonyms and how they differ
- snack
- Snack is the neutral standard word, whereas nosh is more casual and sometimes humorous.
- grub
- Grub is slangy for food in general, usually less appealing than nosh.
- bite
- A bite is a small amount of food, without the relaxed enjoyment nosh suggests.
- nibble
- Nibble means to take small bites, a smaller action than noshing.
Opposites
Word family
- nosher noun
- someone who snacks often
- nosh-up noun
- a big meal, in British slang
- noshery noun
- a place to eat, informal
- noshing noun
- the act of snacking
Commonly confused: nosh or gnash?
nosh vs gnash
Gnash means to grind your teeth together in anger, and sounds similar, but it has nothing to do with food.
Practice
We were hungry after the hike, so we stopped to ___ on some fruit and nuts.
Choose one answer.
Nosh on means to snack on, which fits. Gnash, gash and bash sound alike but have other meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nosh”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.