food
[noun]
Synonyms: nourishment, cuisine, diet, fare, grub (slang), nutrition, rations, refreshment

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English Thesaurus: food, dish, speciality, delicacy, diet, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

food S1 W1 /fuːd/ noun
[Language: Old English; Origin: foda]

1. [uncountable and countable] things that people and animals eat, such as vegetables or meat:
The restaurant serves good food at affordable prices.
I love Italian food, especially pasta.
He was told to cut down on salty and fatty foods.

2. food for thought something that makes you think carefully:
The teacher’s advice certainly gave me food for thought.


GRAMMAR
Food is usually uncountable:
a shortage of food
It is used as a countable noun only to refer to one or more types of food:
She avoids processed foods.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

food
noun
ADJ. delicious, excellent, good, superb, tasty, wonderful | favourite | decent | adequate, enough, sufficient Everyone has the right to adequate food and clean water.
ample | basic, everyday, staple lower fat alternatives to everyday foods Retail prices of staple foods remain unchanged.
plain, simple | exotic, speciality | fine, gourmet, quality Our restaurant serves the finest food.
cheap | bad, poor, unhealthy | healthy, nourishing, nutritious, proper, the right, wholesome Healthy food can and should be delicious Lack of proper food led to much illness among seamen. It's is important to get plenty of exercise and to eat the right foods.
diet, health Essential oils can be bought from most good health food shops
rabbit (informal, disapproving) My father preferred to eat meat and hated rabbit food (= lettuce and other raw vegetables normally found in salads).
fast, junk, snack, takeaway | hot | cold | raw, uncooked | leftover | rotten | fresh | natural | organic | frozen | canned, tinned | processed | convenience, ready-made, ready-prepared | fatty, fried, starchy, stodgy She is trying to cut down on fatty foods.
high-calorie, rich Avoid rich foods like pastries.
sugary, sweet | savoury, spicy | Greek, Indian, etc. | vegetarian | genetically-modified Campaigners are challenging the safety of genetically-modified foods.
animal, vegetable Omnivores are able to eat animal or vegetable food.
solid The baby refuses to swallow any solid food.
baby | cat, dog, fish, pet | hospital, party, prison, pub, restaurant | imported
QUANT. portion, plate | morsel, scrap They moved from village to village begging scraps of food.
VERB + FOOD consume, eat, have the amount of food that an average family consumes in a week You should eat more fresh foods. She had had no food for two days.
enjoy, like He obviously enjoys good food.
live on people who live on junk food
be off, go off The dog has gone off its food. | avoid, cut down on, cut out | be/go short of, run short of The city was under siege and began to run short of food.
be without, go without, live without We had been days without food.
offer (sb) The centre offers food and accommodation for students. | give sb, provide (sb with), serve (sb), supply (sb with) a restaurant that serves good healthy food Thanks to international aid, the town had been supplied with food for nine months.
feed sb/sth (on) He always fed Whiskers the best cat food. She fed her baby on wholesome food.
handle Always take great care when handling food.
cook, do, make, prepare A lot of people can't be bothered to cook good food. Who's doing the food for the party?
smell, taste Taste the food and tell me what you think.
cut (up) Please cut up the food for your baby sister.
pick at He had lost his appetite and picked at his food. | play with Stop playing with your food like a baby!
chew | swallow | bolt, gulp (down) She told the kids not to gulp down their food.
digest | order They sat down at the restaurant table and immediately ordered their food.
grow | import | beg (for), hunt for, look for, search for, scavenge for The female eagle broods and the male hunts for food.
find Most mammals use their sense of smell to find food.
keep, store Keep food fresher for longer with our new sealable containers. Bears store food for the winter.
put out He put out food for the birds.
share
FOOD + VERB smell, taste Does the food taste good?
be in short supply, be short We have strikes, food is short and the queues grow longer.
run out
FOOD + NOUN resource, source, supply Fruits are an important food source for bats. The seaside fish market is a ready food supply for scavenging seabirds.
supplies The UN has b
stuff (also foodstuff) Many basic foodstuffs, such as bread and milk, are tax-free.
crop, plant Peasants were encouraged to grow basic food crops such as beans and corn.
product The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.
consumption | intake His doctor warned him to reduce his daily food intake.
preparation | hygiene, safety | scare There has been a food scare over salmonella in eggs.
distribution | crisis, shortage | rationing, rations | industry, market The country intends to increase its share of the European food market.
manufacturing, production | company, manufacturer, producer | market, outlet, retailer, shop, store, supplier Britain's first organic food market a fast food outlet
prices | bill I am trying to cut my weekly food bill by one third.
policy EU food policy
poisoning | additives | colouring | processor Blend the egg yolks, lemon juice and herbs in a food processor.
chain Plankton is at the bottom of the marine food chain.
PREP. for ~ killing animals for food
without ~ After three days without food, the men were close to starvation.
PHRASES food and drink Gina had prepared food and drink for the work party.
food and water Food and water were running out.
food and wine The Dordogne region is famous for its food and wine.
a smell of food There was a smell of food from the kitchen
a supply of food The ocean provided the villagers with an endless supply of food.
the taste of food the characteristic taste of our food

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

food

good/excellent
The hotel was nice and the food was really good.
delicious/tasty
Thanks for dinner – the food was delicious.
fresh
The food is all so fresh.
healthy
We try to give the kids good healthy food.
nourishing/nutritious (=making you strong and healthy)
The food was nourishing but not particularly tasty.
plain/simple (=without anything added or without decoration)
He liked eating simple food, nothing spicy.
spicy (=with a hot taste)
Spanish food is not usually very spicy.
hot food
She wanted a rest and some hot food.
cold food
The cafeteria only serves cold food.
Italian/French/Chinese etc food
The restaurant serves delicious Italian food.
exotic food (=unusual because of being from a foreign country)
The shop specializes in selling exotic food like kangaroo and crocodile meat.
fatty foods
Limit your intake of fatty foods.
starchy foods (=food that contains a lot of starch)
Starchy foods include bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes.
have food
The family hadn’t had any food for days.
eat food
He sat in the corner and ate his food.
cook/prepare food
I have to cook some food for this evening.
serve food (=give food to someone, especially in a restaurant)
She served food and cleared tables all evening.
enjoy your food
I’ve never seen anyone enjoy their food so much.
chew food
He chewed the food slowly and carefully.
swallow food
While she was ill, she had trouble swallowing her food.
digest food
Aphids have bacteria in their guts that help them digest food.
food tastes good/delicious etc
The food at Jan’s house always tastes good.
food smells good
The food smelt good to her.
be off your food British English (=not want to eat)
The baby is off his food.
go off your food British English (=to stop wanting to eat)
Since becoming ill, he has gone off his food.
a food supply
The government must ensure an adequate food supply.
the food industry
The food industry has responded to consumer concerns about health.
food production (=the process of making or growing food to be sold)
Farmers have increased food production to meet demand.
food products
The nutrient content of most food products is displayed on the packaging.
food prices
Food prices have increased rapidly in recent months.
a food shortage
He remembered the food shortages of the war years.
a food scare (=when people are afraid to eat a particular food)
The meat industry has been badly affected by recent food scares.
food colouring British English, food coloring American English
Dilute a little food colouring with water.
food additives (=substances added to food in order to improve its taste or appearance)
These chemicals have been approved as food additives.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

food
noun
BAD: The child was caught stealing foods.
GOOD: The child was caught stealing food.
BAD: It is a disgrace to serve such a poor food.
GOOD: It is a disgrace to serve such poor food.

Usage Note:
Food is nearly always uncountable: 'We need to go out and buy some food.' It is countable only when it refers to a particular kind of food: 'baby foods', 'health foods'.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

food noun [uncountable and countable] things that people and animals eat:
You can buy good fresh food in the market.
Do you like Japanese food?
dish noun [countable] a type of food that is cooked in a particular way:
a traditional English dish
They also offer vegetarian dishes.
speciality British English, specialty American English noun [countable] a type of food that a restaurant or place is famous for:
Fish dishes are a specialty of the region.
Home made pies are one of the hotel’s specialities.
delicacy noun [countable] an unusual food which people in a particular place like to eat:
The local delicacies include laverbread (boiled seaweed).
I was keen to try out the local delicacies.
diet noun [countable] the type of food that someone usually eats:
You shouldn’t have too much salt in your diet.
In the Andes, the main diet is beans, potatoes, and corn.
cooking noun [uncountable] food made in a particular way, or by a particular person:
Herbs are used a lot in French cooking.
I love my Mum’s home cooking.
cuisine /kwɪˈziːn/ noun [countable] formal the food you can eat in a particular restaurant, country, or area:
Italian cuisine
Trying the local cuisine is all part of the fun of travelling.
nutrition noun [uncountable] food considered as something that is necessary for good health and growth:
a book on nutrition
Many homeless people suffer from poor nutrition.
nourishment /ˈnʌrɪʃmənt $ ˈnɜː-, ˈnʌ-/ noun [uncountable] goodness that you get from food, which helps your body to stay healthy:
There's not much nourishment in fast food.
fare noun [uncountable] formal the kind of food that is served in a place – used especially when saying how interesting it is:
In China you can feast on bird’s nest soup and other exotic fare.
Dinner was pretty standard fare (=the usual kind of food).
fast food food such as hamburgers, which is prepared quickly and which you can take away with you to eat:
He ballooned to 300lbs on a diet of fast food.
junk food food that is full of sugar or fat, and is bad for your health:
I used to eat loads of junk food.
GM food British English food made from vegetables and animals that have had their genetic structure changed:
There has been a lot of research into the safety of GM food.
organic food food that is produced without using harmful chemicals:
Shoppers are willing to pay more for organic food.
health food food that is thought to be good for your health:
You can buy the ingredients in any good health food shop.
superfood a type of food that is believed to be good for your health because it contains a lot of a particular type of vitamin, mineral etc:
Superfoods such as blueberries are often promoted as having magic health-giving properties.
vegetarian food food that does not contain meat:
The restaurant specializes in vegetarian food.
processed food food that has chemicals in it to make it last a long time:
The colourings and flavourings in processed food are chemicals produced in factories.
canned food (also tinned food British English) food that is sold in cans:
We had to live on canned food for a week.
Tinned food was sent as emergency aid.
frozen food food that is kept at a very low temperature to make it last a long time:
Some people claim that frozen food is just as healthy as fresh food.
convenience food food that is sold in cans, packages etc, so that it can be prepared quickly and easily:
I found that I had more time to cook, instead of just heating up convenience food.
baby food special food for babies:
The soup was horrible – it tasted like baby food.
pet/dog/cat/bird etc food food for animals that you keep as pets:
She spent a fortune on pet food.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲