dish

[ dish ]

noun

1. an open, relatively shallow container of pottery, glass, metal, wood, etc., used for various purposes, especially for holding or serving food.
2. any container used at table:

   dirty dishes.

3. the food served or contained in a dish:

   The meal consisted of several dishes.

4. a particular article, type, or preparation of food:

   Rice is an inexpensive dish.

5. the quantity held by a dish; dishful:

   a dish of applesauce.

6. anything like a dish in form or use.
7. concavity or the degree of concavity, as of a wheel.
8. Also called dish an·ten·na [dish, an-ten-, uh]. a concave, dish-shaped reflector serving to focus electromagnetic energy as part of a transmitter or receiver of radio, television, or microwave signals.
9. Slang. an attractive person, especially a female:

   His wife is quite a dish.

10. Slang. an item of gossip.

verb (used with object)

1. to put into or serve in a dish, as food:

   to dish food onto plates.

2. to fashion like a dish; make concave.
3. Slang. to gossip about:

   They talked all night, dishing their former friends.

4. Slang. to defeat; frustrate; cheat.

verb (used without object)

1. Slang. to talk together informally, especially, to gossip.

verb phrase

1. Informal.
   1. to serve (food) from a serving dish, pot, etc.
   2. to deal out; distribute:

      She dished out our pay in silver dollars.

dish

/ dɪʃ /

noun

1. a container used for holding or serving food, esp an open shallow container of pottery, glass, etc
2. the food that is served or contained in a dish
3. a particular article or preparation of food

   a local fish dish

4. Also calleddishful the amount contained in a dish
5. something resembling a dish, esp in shape
6. a concavity or depression
7. short for dish aerial satellite dish aerial
8. informal.
   an attractive person
9. informal.
   something that one particularly enjoys or excels in

verb

1. to put into a dish
2. to make hollow or concave
3. informal.
   to ruin or spoil

   he dished his chances of getting the job

Derived Forms

• ˈdishˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• un·der·dish noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dish¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English disc dish, plate, bowl (akin to German Tisch table) < Latin discus dish, discus

Word History and Origins

Origin of dish¹

Old English disc, from Latin discus quoit, see disc

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. dish it out, Informal. to dispense abusive language, punishment, or praise, enthusiastic approval, etc.:

   When it comes to flattery, he can really dish it out.

More idioms and phrases containing dish

• do the dishes
• dishwater

Example Sentences

Its natural anticancer properties, found to inhibit some types of cancer cells in a dish, potentially offer an additional benefit.

From Science Daily

They developed a way to grow a network of human blood vessels in the laboratory and to pass human blood infected with live parasites through the vessels, thereby reconstructing the disease in a dish.

From Science Daily

Then, they moved from Petri dishes to mice, and Gengatharan designed otherwise identical diets containing either high trans or high cis fats but little cholesterol, feeding them to mice for 16 weeks.

From Science Daily

Over a traditional Syrian meat-and-rice dish of maqluba, Ali, a former footballer from Damascus, gets out his phone and shows us social media videos that promote smuggling routes.

From BBC

As a child, I accompanied my mother to buy ingredients for Nigerian dishes in Upton Park, an area of East London known for its South Asian community.

From New York Times

Related Words

• bowl
• container
• cup
• plate
• platter
• pot
• tray