Lunch lady is the American term for the cafeteria worker — usually a woman — who serves food to students in a school dining hall. The role carries a specific cultural weight in American popular culture: lunch ladies appear in countless films, TV shows, and comedy sketches, often depicted as formidable, hairnetted figures wielding industrial ladles. The term is used affectionately rather than disparagingly, and real-life lunch ladies are often celebrated figures in their school communities.
The lunch lady always sneaked an extra scoop of mashed potato onto his tray when the queue was short.
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(US) A dinner lady.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.