|
A dish is a plate for serving food and also the food contained in it, or a meal. Dishes, always in the plural, refers to all the plates, cups, and cutlery used when eating, as well as the pots and pans used to cook the food—in other words, everything that needs to be washed at the end of the meal. As a slang term, dish means 'an attractive person.' Informally, as a verb, dish means 'to tell somebody the gossip about something.'
|
•
|
Steve put one piece of cake on each dish.
|
|
•
|
On a cold day, a nice hot dish of soup really warms you up.
|
|
•
|
This menu has a lot of great dishes on it!
|
|
•
|
That was a lovely meal, but look at all the dishes!
|
|
•
|
I like that actor, he's such a dish!
|
|
•
|
I know you saw them kissing at the party. Come on, dish!
|
|
Words often used with dish
|
|
|
|
satellite dish: a dish-shaped antenna used for picking up satellite signals, often for satellite TV
|
|
|
|
Multi-word forms
|
|
|
|
dish it out (informal): to criticize. Example: "Helen is always criticizing everyone, but she hates it if anyone says anything about what she does; she can dish it out, but she can't take it!"
dish the dirt (informal): to divulge gossip about something. Example: "That journalist dished the dirt about the politician's affair."
do the dishes: wash all the plates, cutlery (forks, knives, spoons), and pots and pans after a meal (in UK English you can also say "wash up" or "do the washing up"). Example: "I always cook dinner, and my husband does the dishes."
|
|
|
|
Did you know?
|
|
|
|
The slang term dish, meaning an attractive person, has a related adjective dishy. So instead of saying someone is a dish, you might say that he or she is really dishy. Both terms are a little dated now, but you might still hear some people use them!
|
|
|
|
Origin
|
|
|
|
Dish dates back to before 900; it comes from the Middle English and Old English word disc, meaning 'dish,' 'plate,' or 'bowl' (akin to the German word Tisch, meaning 'table') and the Latin word discus, meaning 'dish' or 'discus.'
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
