working through lunch

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   Spending your lunch break doing work instead of stopping to eat or rest.

   Grammar: Used after be or another verb: "I was working through lunch." The word lunch stays singular and takes no article here.

   Patterns

   • be working through lunch
   • work through lunch
   • work through your lunch break

   I'm working through lunch today because the report is due at three.

   She worked through lunch all week and felt exhausted by Friday.

   We had to work through lunch to finish setting up the hall.

2. 2phrasefixed phrase

   Continuing an activity such as a meal or a meeting without taking a pause.

   Grammar: Here through means "without stopping"; the phrase follows a verb of continuing, as in "talk through lunch."

   Patterns

   • talk through lunch
   • sit through lunch
   • keep working through lunch

   They talked through lunch and never noticed the time.

   He kept working through lunch, answering emails between bites.

Common combinations

end up working through lunch

If we start this now, we'll end up working through lunch.

work through lunch again

He's working through lunch again, so save him a sandwich.

work through lunch to finish something

We worked through lunch to finish the presentation.

used to working through lunch

She's used to working through lunch on busy days.

work through lunch every day

Working through lunch every day is bad for your health.

Synonyms and how they differ

skip lunch

Use this when the point is that you miss the meal completely; it does not say whether you were working.

eat at your desk

This describes staying at your desk to eat while working; working through lunch may mean no food at all.

put in extra hours

This is broader and refers to any extra time worked, not specifically the lunch break.

Opposites

Word family

lunch break noun

the period in the middle of the day when you stop work to eat

work through phrasal verb

to deal with a problem or task until it is finished

lunch hour noun

the hour in the middle of the day set aside for eating

Commonly confused: working through lunch or work for lunch? working through lunch or working lunch?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “working through lunch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words