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Glite Dictionary
heavy meal

heavy meal

1 1.9
A large amount of food that makes you feel very full
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛvi miːl/
translation icon : comida abundante
  • Avoid heavy meals just before bedtime, and don't overdo it with alcohol either.
  • eat a heavy meal
  • heavy meal before bedtime
  • avoid heavy meals

People end up eating a heavy meal, oftentimes an hour or two before they go to bed.

Examples

  • Heavy meals may make you less comfortable when settling for bed; spicy food has a tendency to cause heartburn, which can make it difficult to fall asleep and can cause discomfort during the sleep period.

    Academic text (2006)

  • People end up eating a heavy meal, oftentimes an hour or two before they go to bed.

    Tom Bilyeu

  • Avoid eating heavy meals close to bedtime.

    Blog text (4)

  • Avoid heavy meals during the two hours before bedtime.

    Blog text (31)

  • It is a good idea to have 3-4 small meals rather than having 2 heavy meals in a day.

    Blog text (22)

  • Convenience store snacks only go so far for your family, and a diet filled with heavy meals and sugary snacks can lead to upset stomachs and crabbiness.

    Blog text (2)

  • After a long day, he regretted having such a heavy meal for dinner.

  • She always feels sluggish after eating a heavy meal in the evening.

  • Eating a heavy meal before sleeping can lead to indigestion.

Synonyms

hearty meal
vsheavy meal
2 1.6

A large filling meal that makes you feel full and warm

is large and filling while often being rich or substantial

Antonyms

light diet
3.2

Food that is easy to digest and avoids fried or spicy foods for people recovering from illness

How Filling

feast
162 1.9
heavy meal
1 1.9
to snack
27 1.0

Surface Forms

heavy meal singular
heavy meals plural

Morphology

heavy + meal

The meaning 'a large, filling, or rich meal' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'heavy' (substantial, weighty) with 'meal' (an eating occasion). This adjective+noun compositional pattern is common across languages and follows normal semantic combination rules, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Heavy meal paints a clear picture of a plate piled high with rich, weighty food: the word heavy feels like weight in your stomach and meal is the food. That's why it means 'a large and filling meal' that can make you feel very full or sleepy.