food
Americannoun
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foods
plural
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any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc.
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more or less solid nourishment, as distinguished from liquids.
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a particular kind of solid nourishment.
a breakfast food; dog food.
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whatever supplies nourishment to organisms.
plant food.
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anything serving for consumption or use.
food for thought.
noun
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any substance containing nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, that can be ingested by a living organism and metabolized into energy and body tissue
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nourishment in more or less solid form as opposed to liquid form
food and drink
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anything that provides mental nourishment or stimulus
food for thought
Synonym Usage
Food, fare, provisions, ration(s) all refer to nutriment. Food is the general word: Breakfast foods have become very popular. Many animals prefer grass as food. Fare refers to the whole range of foods that may nourish a person or animal: an extensive bill of fare; The fare of some animals is limited in range. Provisions is applied to a store or stock of necessary things, especially food, prepared beforehand: provisions for a journey. Ration implies an allotment or allowance of provisions: a daily ration for each man of a company. Rations often means food in general: to be on short rations.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of food
First recorded before 1000; Middle English fode, Old English fōda; compare Old English fēdan, Gothic fōdjan feed; cf. fodder ( def. ), foster
Explanation
Food is anything that you can eat and digest. Your body needs food to grow and live. Some people love pizza, others love Thai food, and many can't get enough fruits and vegetables. Everything served at a restaurant is some kind of food — you eat it, digest it, and poop it out. Just because you can chew and swallow something doesn't make it food — try eating a crayon. To be food, it has to have nutritional value. Along with water and shelter, food is something you need to survive.
Vocabulary lists containing food
Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms - Introductory
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Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
You, very understandably, are worked up about how much food is ordered and goes untouched.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
“In 2021, cereal was the most-advertised children’s food category,” the authors write: More than 40% of the food ads on children’s television promoted cereal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Getting the rotting food off racks towering six stories high required hundreds of workers in protective suits to dislodge the moldering food.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
"Our research group has discovered novel bioactive lipids in Japanese dietary fish, herbal teas, and seaweeds," Gowda adds, "helping to shed light on Japan's underexplored lipid-rich food resources."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
She fixes herself a plate of food and places it in front of her.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Parents could choose from an approved list of foods for birthdays; watermelon was OK.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Another unanswered question is whether chocolate has something special about it or whether other familiar foods could produce similar effects.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
Families with children typically spend more, so cutting back would require things like planning low-cost meals, saying no to prepared and convenience foods, making use of leftovers and bringing lunch to work.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Choi’s advice was to go the other direction: blister them, puree them, drown them in vinegar or chili, add something sweet, blend them into sauces, make them taste like the foods you already crave.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
Other foods the Abbouds missed crowded her mind.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
