昼食|ちゅうしょくchuushoku[0]heiban (flat)

1. nounlunch; midday meal
   今日きょうは昼食ちゅうしょくをとる時間じかんがない。↗

   I don't have enough time to eat lunch today.

• Synonym昼飯ひるめしCasualColloquial and masculine, as in 「昼飯を食う」; 「昼食」 is the formal, written term.
• Synonym昼ご飯ひるごはんNeutralThe everyday, polite word for lunch, as in 「昼ご飯を食べる」; 「昼食」 leans formal and written.
• SynonymランチNeutralLoanword for lunch or a lunch set, as in 「ランチメニュー」; common in restaurants, while 「昼食」 appears in announcements and schedules.
• Synonym午餐ごさんWrittenWritten style, now mostly in 「午餐会」 for banquets and meetings; for lunch itself say 「昼食」 or 「昼ご飯」.
• Synonym昼餐ちゅうさんFormalFormal written word for lunch used on solemn occasions; rare in daily speech, where 「昼食」 is the norm.
• Related昼餉ひるげWrittenArchaic written term for the midday meal, found in literature or deliberately old-fashioned prose; modern speech uses 「昼ご飯」.

Say 「昼ご飯」 in everyday speech; men often use the colloquial 「昼飯」. 「昼食」 suits formal or written contexts, 「ランチ」 typically means a restaurant lunch, and banquets take 「午餐会」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 昼ひるに食たべる食事しょくじ。