afternoon tea
afternoon tea noun: a formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, accompanied by tea.
Noun
afternoon tea (countable and uncountable, plural afternoon teas)
- A formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, accompanied by tea.
- Afternoon tea remains at its present price of 4s, but the prices of all other main meals have risen by 1s. Thus a full breakfast now costs 10s, lunch 13s 6d and dinner 14s 6d or 16s 6d according to train.1964 May, “News and Comment: BR meal prices up again”, in Modern Railways, page 293
- Afternoon tea includes scones, tarts, finger sandwiches, Victorian spongecakes, tea breads, assorted cookies and jams.1990 November 23, Sharon Thompson, Susan Miller, “Fleur-de-lys restaurant expands dining space, menu”, in Lexington Herald-Leader, metro final edition, volume 8, number 325, Lexington, Ky., →ISSN...
- A small meal or snack eaten between lunch and dinner (supper); a period of time set aside for this purpose, taken as a break from work or from a conference.
- After afternoon tea we all combine again for a plenary session, followed by the UniForum NZ AGM.1993, AUUGN, page 53
- In looking at meal structures, Douglas (1972) made a clear distinction between the afternoon tea which is a snack and the high tea which is classified as a light meal.1995, David Marshall, Food Choice and the Consumer, page 270
afternoon tea meaning in Tagalog and Malay
afternoon tea in Tagalog
- light meal or snack taken in the mid to late afternoon
- meryenda
afternoon tea in Malay
- formal afternoon meal
- minum petang
Examples of afternoon tea in a sentence
- As with luncheon, afternoon tea was often a women's gathering for reasons that take us back to the reign of Charles II.2007, Andrea Broomfield, Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History, page 59:
- Everyone should indulge in a formal afternoon tea at least once while in London.2010, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Frommer's England 2011: With Wales, page 165:
- At all the places listed below, it's perfectly acceptable to order one afternoon tea and one cream tea (at about £5) and split the afternoon tea goodies.2010, Rick Steves, Rick Steves′ England 2011, page 179:
- The British tradition of afternoon tea is still observed on the last Friday of each month, from January to August, at the hilltop mansion of the governor-general in Nassau.2011, Darwin Porter, Frommer's Bahamas 2012, page 67:
Synonyms of afternoon tea
Forms of afternoon tea
| plural | afternoon teas |
|---|
Words formed from afternoon tea
Questions about afternoon tea
- What does afternoon tea mean?
- Afternoon tea means a formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, accompanied by tea.
- What is afternoon tea in Tagalog?
- Afternoon tea in Tagalog is meryenda. See Afternoon tea meaning in Tagalog.
- How do you use afternoon tea in a sentence?
- As with luncheon, afternoon tea was often a women's gathering for reasons that take us back to the reign of Charles II.
- What part of speech is afternoon tea?
- Afternoon tea is a noun.
- What is the plural of afternoon tea?
- The plural of afternoon tea is afternoon teas.
Words near afternoon tea in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: afternoon tea (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 afternoon tea.ogg.
Cite this entry: “afternoon tea.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/afternoon_tea. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.