Definition

tv dinner (noun) A pre-cooked, frozen meal that is packaged in a single-serving tray, designed to be heated and eaten with minimal preparation, typically while watching television.

Usage

This term is used to refer to a specific type of convenience food. It emphasizes the meal's complete, ready-to-heat nature and its association with casual, often solitary, dining in front of a television. * After a long day at work, she often eats a tv dinner. * The freezer is stocked with tv dinners for busy nights.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used metaphorically to describe anything that is pre-packaged, convenient, and requires little individual effort or engagement.
  • The training felt like a corporate tv dinner—pre-packaged and unsatisfying.

Variants and Related Words

• Frozen dinner (noun): A more generic synonym that does not imply the television-watching context.
• Ready meal (noun): A broader term common in British English for any pre-prepared meal, which may be chilled or frozen.

Synonyms

• Frozen meal
• Pre-packaged meal
• Convenience meal

Related Idioms

• Couch potato fare: (Informal) A humorous idiom describing food, like a tv dinner, that is eaten while lounging and watching TV.
  • His diet consisted mostly of couch potato fare like chips and tv dinners.

Noun

1. a meal that is prepared in advance and frozen; can be heated and served