FREE LUNCH Definition & Meaning

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free lunch

noun

food provided without charge in some bars and saloons to attract customers.
Informal. something given with no expectation of repayment, service, responsibility, etc.:
In politics there's no free lunch—everyone expects favors to be repaid.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of free lunch¹

First recorded in 1835–45

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Idioms and Phrases

Something acquired without due effort or cost. For example, In politics there is no free lunch; every favor calls for repayment . This expression alludes to the custom of taverns offering food free of charge to induce customers to buy drinks. It was soon extended to other kinds of gift but is often used in a negative way, as in the example. [First half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Other cost-cutting measures including the removal of free lunches for staff.

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Several moves taken by the club which have attracted criticism, with cost-cutting measures including the removal of free lunches for staff, culminating in a protest against United's ownership by fans last weekend.

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What we want to do is invest in the best players in the world if we can, rather than spend it on, I'm afraid, free lunches.

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Plenty at the club noted within the reaction to this week's staff news at United that not many employers offer staff the free lunches that are being taken away.

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Sportswriters would come together in Culver City lured by a free lunch to nominate and vote for players.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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