dinner theater
9
4.0
- noun
- /ˈdɪnər ˈθiːətər/
- US
:
teatro con cena
- Last weekend, we celebrated my friend's birthday at a cozy dinner theater where we enjoyed a delicious meal while watching a captivating play.
- dinner theater restaurant
Examples
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It was only a small dinner-theater venue, several miles from Mobile's fashionable harbor district, but it was packed that night.
Fiction book (1994) -
Attendance at a dinner theatre, drama production, musical, or opera can be stimulating, and it may kindle new energy in the group.
Academic text (2010) -
Just think of it like interactive dinner theater.
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Yeah, the gang and I are doing "Death of a Salesman" and it's kind of a dinner theatre thing.
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This is basically a dinner theater we're runnin' here.
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We've been doing musical dinner theater now over 6 years in over 27 cities.
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The travel group, consisting predominantly of retirees, had performed at several churches and at a dinner theater in Ireland.
Academic text (2008) -
When I learned that Debby had written a play that was going to be performed in a dinner theater production in my hometown—which Debby still calls home—
Blog text (6) -
The local community center hosts a popular dinner theater every month, featuring a different performance and menu each time.
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For a unique night out, she recommended experiencing a dinner theater that combines fine dining with live performances.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'dinner' (a meal) + 'theater' (a venue for performances): it denotes a theater where a meal is served as part of the event. This straightforward noun+noun compound follows common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The name dinner theater comes from the simple idea of a place where people eat dinner while watching a show. Because the meal is part of the ticket, the phrase means 'a theater that offers a meal with the performance'.