supper meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

supper

noun

UK /ˈsʌpə/ · US /ˈsʌpɚ/

Etymology From Middle English soper, from Old French soper, from sope (“soup”). Compare French souper.

An optional light meal consumed shortly before going to bed.

There he stood, with admirable patience, […] longing to go to rest for hours past; aware that suppers disagreed with him […] so tired and longing for bed!1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 46, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

Atlantic Canada, Canadian Prairies, Midwestern US, South Africa Any meal eaten in the evening; dinner eaten in the evening, rather than at noon.

We normally have supper at 7.

Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Slang A meal from a chip shop consisting of a deep-fried food with chips.

a fish supper
Roisin the savior paraded into the front room with three fish suppers, one sausage supper, one single fish, one single chips, a single sausage, a chicken and chips, and three curry and chips.2014, Gerald Hansen, An Embarrassment of Riches:

Synonyms: dinner
Derived terms: 34 terms
box supper, brupper, bump supper, Burns supper, churn supper, covered dish supper, cowboy supper, faith supper, fall supper, fish supper, harvest supper, Jiggs supper, kern supper, kitchen supper, Last Supper, Lord's Supper, lupper, pie supper, progressive supper, rere-supper, safari supper, sing for one's supper, song and supper room, supper club, supper hour, supper-hour, supperless, suppermate, supper time, suppertime, supper-time, supperwards, supperware, unsuppered
Related terms: soup

supper

verb

Etymology From Middle English soper, from Old French soper, from sope (“soup”). Compare French souper.

To consume a snack before going to bed.

To eat dinner.

To provide (a person or animal) with supper.

Horns in the night-season are heard a great way off, and in the winter-season were blown at every farmer’s house about eight at night when they suppered the horses and cows; […]1815, “Supplement to Volume LXXXV. Part I. […]”, in The Gentleman’s Magazine: and Historical Chronicle. […], London: […] [John] Nichols, Son, and [Samuel] Bentley, […], page 581, column 1:
I went to supper up my horses, and heard somebody; […] After suppering the horses, I went into the house, and saw Stacey, who asked me if I had suppered the horses.1828, John White, quotee, Trial of William Dyon, and His Son, John Dyon, for the Wilful Murder of Their Relative, Mr. John Dyon, […], Doncaster: Brooke & Co. […]; C. & J. White, […], page 15:

4 more examples

Foreigners, and deaf-mutes especially, who are not familiar with what we call “good usage,” frequently fall into ludicrous mistakes in framing sentences out of the elements that have been given them. One writes: […] “My friend suppered me” instead of gave me supper. Such expressions are according to rule, and appear singular only because they have not come into general use.1876 July, J[ohn] H[ancock] Pettingell, “English Verbs”, in Edward A[llen] Fay, editor, American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb, volume XXI, number 3, Washington, D.C.: […] Gibson Brothers, page 156:
It was Friday when this idea suggested itself to my mind, and, so soon as I had suppered the horses, I dashed into the wood, disturbing pheasants right and left, and forcing the lively rabbits, out for the evening’s sports, to beat a hasty retreat!1883, John Menzies, Reminiscences of an Old Soldier, Edinburgh: […] Crawford & M‘Cabe […], page 4:
My birthday was a “Fourth of July” from early a. m., when your sweet gift greeted me, till 2 a. m., when “The Players” “suppered” me gorgeously.1889 November 15, Edwin Booth, “Letters to His Daughter”, in Edwin Booth: Recollections by His Daughter, Edwina Booth Grossman, and Letters to Her and to His Friends, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., published 1894, page 101:
In his new employment it was agreed that David should be allowed to go on winter nights at eight o’clock, after he had suppered the horses, to a night school at a place called Millwell, perhaps about three miles or so distant, to take lessons in arithmetic.1891, Thomas R[oscoe] R[ede] Stebbing, “The Loom and the Quarry—Farm-Work and Self-Education”, in The Naturalist of Cumbrae: A True Story, Being the Life of David Robertson, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltᵈ, page 66:

supper

noun

Etymology From sup + -er.

A drinker, especially one who drinks slowly (i.e., one who sups).

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.