"low tea" meaning in English

See low tea in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: low teas [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} low tea (countable and uncountable, plural low teas)
  1. (UK) A formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, often accompanied by tea. Tags: UK, countable, uncountable Synonyms: afternoon tea Related terms: high tea
    Sense id: en-low_tea-en-noun-SxsgqDlc Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for low tea meaning in English (2.3kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "low teas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "low tea (countable and uncountable, plural low teas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Emily Thacker, Vinegar & Tea",
          "text": "Low tea, the original aristocratic late afternoon break for conversation and dainty delicacies was a very social time and was served in the 'low' part of the day.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Beverley Dubrin, Tea Culture: History, Traditions, Celebrations, Recipes & More, page 27",
          "text": "Afternoon tea has evolved into a combination of high and low teas. High tea, once called \"meat tea\", was originally the main meal of the British lower classes, eaten with the family at home at the end of a long workday. Low tea was a light meal or snack, enjoyed by the British upper classes in thr late afternoon to tide them over until their more substantial dinner in the evening. Low tea was often a social event, enjoyed in the company of friends or associates. The distinction between high tea and low tea was also a literal one, based on the kind of table used for serving. High tea was consumed at a high dining room table, while low tea was served in the sitting or living room on a lower side table or cocktail table (also called a coffee table).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019, Julia Skinner, Afternoon Tea: A History, page 39",
          "text": "Counterintuitively, \"low tea\" has historically been for the upper classes the term used for afternoon tea, while \"high tea\" was initially the afternoon tea of the working classes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, often accompanied by tea."
      ],
      "id": "en-low_tea-en-noun-SxsgqDlc",
      "links": [
        [
          "tea",
          "tea"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) A formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, often accompanied by tea."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "high tea"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "afternoon tea"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low tea"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "low teas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "low tea (countable and uncountable, plural low teas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "high tea"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Emily Thacker, Vinegar & Tea",
          "text": "Low tea, the original aristocratic late afternoon break for conversation and dainty delicacies was a very social time and was served in the 'low' part of the day.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Beverley Dubrin, Tea Culture: History, Traditions, Celebrations, Recipes & More, page 27",
          "text": "Afternoon tea has evolved into a combination of high and low teas. High tea, once called \"meat tea\", was originally the main meal of the British lower classes, eaten with the family at home at the end of a long workday. Low tea was a light meal or snack, enjoyed by the British upper classes in thr late afternoon to tide them over until their more substantial dinner in the evening. Low tea was often a social event, enjoyed in the company of friends or associates. The distinction between high tea and low tea was also a literal one, based on the kind of table used for serving. High tea was consumed at a high dining room table, while low tea was served in the sitting or living room on a lower side table or cocktail table (also called a coffee table).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019, Julia Skinner, Afternoon Tea: A History, page 39",
          "text": "Counterintuitively, \"low tea\" has historically been for the upper classes the term used for afternoon tea, while \"high tea\" was initially the afternoon tea of the working classes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, often accompanied by tea."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tea",
          "tea"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) A formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, often accompanied by tea."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "afternoon tea"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low tea"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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