dish
dihsh
Dish (noun) means a shallow container used for serving or holding food. Example: “Pour the sauce into a shallow dish and leave it to cool.”
noun
1
A shallow container used for serving or holding food.
"Pour the sauce into a shallow dish and leave it to cool."
"Everyone passed around a large dish of roast potatoes."
"She set a dish of olives on the table."
2
A particular type of prepared food.
"My grandmother's favourite dish is a creamy chicken and mushroom pie."
"Which dish would you recommend for someone who does not eat meat?"
"The restaurant's signature dish is a spicy seafood stew."
3
A curved, bowl-shaped antenna used to receive signals.
"The engineer adjusted the dish until the television picture became clear again."
"Strong winds had knocked the dish out of line, so reception was poor."
"A satellite dish sat bolted to the roof."
verb
1
To serve food, especially onto plates.
"Could you dish out the soup while I pour the drinks?"
"The volunteers dished the stew onto plates as the queue grew longer."
"He dished up dinner for the whole family."
2
Informal: to share gossip or personal details.
"Come on, dish! I want to hear everything about your new neighbour."
"They sat in the cafe, dishing about their colleagues for an hour."
"She dished all the details about the breakup."
How to use dish
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA plate or bowl, a type of food, or (informally) to serve food or spill gossip.
Common pairings
do the dishes
dish out
side dish
main dish
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Word forms
- Plural
- dishes
- Third person singular
- dishes
- Past tense
- dished
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
Pour the sauce into a shallow _____ and leave it to cool.
Etymology
From Old English disc, from a West Germanic word for "table" or "dish," ultimately borrowed from Latin discus — the same root that gave us "desk" and "discus."
Related words
Rhymes for dish
See all rhymes for dish →Frequently asked questions
What does “dish” mean?
The word “dish” means a shallow container used for serving or holding food. In plain terms, a plate or bowl, a type of food, or (informally) to serve food or spill gossip.
How do you pronounce “dish”?
“Dish” is pronounced dihsh (/dɪʃ/ in IPA).
How do you use “dish” in a sentence?
Here is “dish” used in a sentence: “She set a dish of olives on the table.”
What part of speech is “dish”?
Depending on how it is used, “dish” can be a noun and a verb.
Where does the word “dish” come from?
The word “dish” comes from Latin. From Old English disc, from a West Germanic word for "table" or "dish," ultimately borrowed from Latin discus — the same root that gave us "desk" and "discus.".
Is “dish” a common word?
“Dish” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.
How many meanings does “dish” have?
“Dish” has 5 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a shallow container used for serving or holding food.
What is the difference between a 'dish' and a 'plate'?
A plate is a flat item you eat from, whereas a dish is usually a deeper, shallow-sided container used for serving or holding food. 'Dish' is also a general word for any piece of crockery and for a prepared food itself.
What is the difference between a 'dish' and a 'bowl'?
A bowl is deep and rounded for holding liquids or loose food, while a dish is typically shallower and often used for serving. In everyday use the terms overlap, and 'doing the dishes' covers all the dirty crockery.
What do the phrases 'dish out' and 'dish the dirt' mean?
To 'dish out' means to hand out or distribute something, as in 'dish out advice,' while to 'dish the dirt' means to share gossip. Both are informal extensions of the food-serving sense of dish.
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