ready meal

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A complete meal sold in a package that you only need to heat up before eating.

   Grammar: Countable: one ready meal, two ready meals.

   Patterns

   • a ready meal for one
   • heat up a ready meal

   After a long shift at the hospital, he often just heats up a ready meal.

   The supermarket keeps its ready meals next to the frozen vegetables.

   She bought three ready meals so she would not have to cook during exam week.

2. 2noununcountable

   Such meals considered as a type of product or way of eating.

   Grammar: Used without an or a when talking about the category in general.

   Patterns

   • live on ready meal
   • the ready meal market

   The report says students spend more on ready meal than on fresh vegetables.

   Supermarkets have expanded their ready meal range every year.

Word forms

Common combinations

a frozen ready meal

There is a frozen ready meal in the freezer if you get hungry.

heat up a ready meal

It takes four minutes to heat up a ready meal in the microwave.

a ready meal for one

The shop sells a ready meal for one for under five dollars.

the ready meal aisle

I found him in the ready meal aisle, comparing prices.

live on ready meals

When my parents travel, I live on ready meals and toast.

Synonyms and how they differ

frozen dinner

Common in American English for a ready meal kept in the freezer; it sounds more informal than 'ready meal'.

TV dinner

An older, informal American term for a single ready meal in a divided tray, and it can sound slightly dated.

Word family

ready-made adjective

Already prepared and ready to use, as in ready-made sauce.

Commonly confused: ready meal or ready-made?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “ready meal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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