free lunch

noun

1. food provided without charge in some bars and saloons to attract customers.
2. Informal. something given with no expectation of repayment, service, responsibility, etc.:

   In politics there's no free lunch—everyone expects favors to be repaid.

Word History and Origins

Origin of free lunch¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Idioms and Phrases

Something acquired without due effort or cost. For example, In politics there is no free lunch; every favor calls for repayment . This expression alludes to the custom of taverns offering food free of charge to induce customers to buy drinks. It was soon extended to other kinds of gift but is often used in a negative way, as in the example. [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

His free lunches for every primary school child scheme was praised by a new independent report that found it had brought “significant benefits” for the capital’s children, parents and schools.

From BBC

The only way to mitigate risk is to do what economists call the “only free lunch in finance” — to diversify your retirement portfolio.

From Salon

Student nutrition directors like Primer say the foundation that allows schools to experiment with new recipes is California's universal free lunch program.

From Salon

“Please keep it as a last resort, unless you’re one of those few people that are gaming the system, so to speak. There’s no free lunch,” Marolia said.

From Salon

Not only does worrying about Trump’s Hitler parallels strengthen him, but having Walz defang “socialist” as free lunches for poor students so they can learn and stay off the streets already just feels right.

From Salon