Meaning & use
work through lunch
Last updated
Meaning
phraseintransitive
To continue working during the time you would normally stop for lunch.
Grammar: No object; the phrase already includes 'through lunch'. You can say 'work through lunch' or 'work through your lunch break'.
Patterns
- work through lunch
- work through your lunch break
I had to work through lunch to finish the report.
She often works through lunch when a deadline is near.
Don't work through lunch every day; you need a break.
Word forms
| third person singular | works through lunch |
|---|---|
| past tense | worked through lunch |
| past participle | worked through lunch |
| -ing form | working through lunch |
Common combinations
- have to work through lunch
- I have to work through lunch today because the meeting ran late.
- work through lunch to finish something
- He worked through lunch to finish the presentation.
- work through lunch every day
- Working through lunch every day can make you tired.
Synonyms and how they differ
- skip lunch
- Skip lunch means not eat lunch at all; work through lunch means you keep working during that time, though you might still eat at your desk.
- work overtime
- Work overtime means work extra hours, often after normal hours; work through lunch specifically means working during the lunch break.
Opposites
Word family
- lunch break noun
- The period during the workday when you stop for lunch.
Commonly confused: work through lunch or work for lunch?
work through lunch vs work for lunch
Work for lunch would mean working in order to get lunch, which is not the usual meaning. The correct phrase is work through lunch.
Practice
What does 'work through lunch' mean?
Choose one answer.
Work through lunch means you keep working instead of stopping for lunch. Option B is correct. Option An is about eating fast, not working; option C is about making lunch for others; option D is the opposite of working through lunch.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “work through lunch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.