(a) Food, nourishment, sustenance; also, digested food, chyle [quot.: ?c1425]; -- also pl.; (b) in phrases: ~ and cloth(es, metes and clothes, cloth and ~; ~ ne cloth, cloth ne ~ [see cloth 4. (c)]; mid ~ mid cloth; biswinken ~ [see also biswinken 2. (a)]; winnen (deserven, ernen, tillen) ~, tillen metes, tillen ~ and drink, to earn one's livelihood; asken (bidden) ~, beg one's bread; (c) in various figurative uses; aungeles ~, manna; (d) stores, provisions; drink and ~; (e) as second element in cpds. & combs.: bake(n ~, q.v.; dish ~ [see dish 6.]; fried ~ [see frien v.(3)]; grene mete(s [see grene adj. 2. (c)]; grete ~, coarse food, food hard to digest [see also gret adj. 2. (b)]; gros ~ [see gros adj. 3. (b)]; soupinge ~, whit ~, yerning ~, q.v.

In cpds. and combs.: (a) ~ bedripe, ?a reaping service at which food was provided; ~ bene, boon work at which food, or a payment in lieu, was provided; ~ bote [cp. bote n. (1)] ? = ~ bene; (b) ~ cloth, a table cloth; ~ dighter, a cook; ~ dighting, cooking; ~ dish; ~ felaue, ~ fere, a guest, table companion; ~ fitel [OE mete-fǣtels; cp. ME fētles ], a chest or other container for storing food; ~ forme, a bench for sitting at table; (c) ~ gavel, payment in lieu of a food rent; ~ hom, a food rent; ~ huche = metefitel; ~ kepinge, food storage; ~ kin, a kind of food; ~ nithing [cp. OI matniðingr], one who feeds his household poorly; (d) ~ oile, ?vegetable oil; swete ~ oile, olive oil; ~ place, ?a place where food is set out; ~ sesoun = ~ time; ~ sete, a seat at table; ~ setel, a bench or seat at table; ~ silver = ~ gavel; (e) ~ sponful, ~ stikkeful, a spoonful, ladleful; ~ table, a dining table; also fig.; also, a sideboard; ~ thistel, some kind of thistle; ~ time, dinnertime, mealtime; ~ vessel, a food bowl; ~ whil, the time taken by a meal; also, mealtime.

(a) Solid food; ~ at mel, food to eat; ~ and drinke (drinche), to metes and to drinches, ~ oððe drenche, ~ or drinke, ~ ne drinke, nother drinke ne ~, ~ and drinke and clothing, clothes ~ and drinke; etc. [see also drink(e 1. (b) and cloth 4. (c)]; (b) an item of food, a kind of food, a foodstuff; metes and drinkes (drinches) [see also drink(e 1. (b)]; (c) food prepared in a certain way, a dish; something cooked; metes and drinkes; maken metes, to cook different dishes; (d) meat; also, fish, fowl; shep of mete(s, sheep for the slaughter; flesh ~, meat, q.v.; inren ~ = inmete; rost(ed ~ [see rosten v.]; (e) the edible part of fruit or of a nut.

(a) A meal, repast; also, a feeding for geese; more ~, main meal; morwe ~, breakfast; non ~, dinner; at ~, at table; gon to ~, sitten (doun) to ~; maken ~, to prepare meals (or a meal); ~ grace, grace before or after a meal; (b) a particular meal, usually the first main meal of the day taken before or about noon; lunch, midday dinner; also, breakfast; ?also, supper [quot.: c1440]; ~ and soper, ~ or (other, either, ne) soper; ~ and mel, etc. [see also mel n. (2) 3. (b)]; ~ sel, mealtime, dinnertime; (c) a feast, banquet; metes yevere, a steward, waiter; (d) a course of food at a meal.

(a) An animal's food, fodder; hors ~ [see hors n. 8. (g)]; also prescribed fodder, diet, regimen; (b) prey; dethes (develes, fishes, wormes) ~; (c) bait; also fig.