Meaning & use
wine and dine
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitiveinformal
To entertain someone with good food and drink, often to impress them or win their favor.
Grammar: Takes an object: they wined and dined the client.
Patterns
- wine and dine someone
- be wined and dined by someone
The firm wined and dined the investors at the best restaurant in town.
He tried to wine and dine her on their first date.
Salespeople often wine and dine potential buyers.
verbintransitivehumorous
To enjoy a fine meal with wine, especially as a treat or a celebration.
Grammar: No object; often with a place or time: they wined and dined all evening.
Patterns
- wine and dine at somewhere
We wined and dined on the terrace until midnight.
They plan to wine and dine at a small Italian place for their anniversary.
The couple wined and dined their way through Tuscany.
Word forms
| third person singular | wines and dines |
|---|---|
| past tense | wined and dined |
| past participle | wined and dined |
| -ing form | wining and dining |
Common combinations
- wine and dine clients
- The agency wines and dines clients every quarter.
- wine and dine a date
- He decided to wine and dine his date at a fancy restaurant.
- wined and dined
- We were wined and dined all week on the trip.
- wining and dining
- The wining and dining ended with a lavish dessert.
- wine and dine someone lavishly
- They wined and dined her lavishly to win the deal.
Synonyms and how they differ
- entertain
- Entertain is a plain word for hosting guests and does not have to involve food, while wine and dine is about expensive meals.
- treat
- Treat suggests paying for someone as a kindness, whereas wine and dine suggests a motive such as persuading them.
- host
- Host focuses on the role of the person receiving guests, and it lacks the idea of luxury food and drink.
- court
- Court is more old-fashioned and refers to romantic pursuit, with no emphasis on meals.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wine and dine or whine and dine?
wine and dine vs whine and dine
Whine means to complain in a high voice. The phrase is wine and dine, with a w sound only.
Practice
The agency tried to ____ the new client with a lavish dinner.
Choose one answer.
Wine and dine means to entertain with fine food and drink. Dine and dash is leaving without paying, and the others do not fit the sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wine and dine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.