• IPA: /ˈdaɪət/

diet (plural diets)

  1. The food and beverage a person or animal consumes.
    The diet of the Giant Panda consists mainly of bamboo.
    • 2013, Martin D Buckland, ‎Lynda Hall, ‎Alan Mowlem, A Guide to Laboratory Animal Technology, page 56:
      It is common policy to order no more diet than will be used within one month.
  2. (countable) A controlled regimen of food and drink, as to gain or lose weight or otherwise influence health.
  3. (by extension) Any habitual intake or consumption.
    He's been reading a steady diet of nonfiction for the last several years.
Translations Translations Translations Adjective

diet (not comparable)

  1. (of a food or beverage) Containing less fat, salt, sugar, or calories than normal, or claimed to have such.
    diet soda
    • 1998, Andy Sae, Chemical Magic from the Grocery Store:
      The difference in weight (mass) of the regular and the diet drink of the same brand roughly equals to the amount of sugar in the regular drink.
    • 2010, Lonely Planet Peru ISBN 1742203698, page 347:
      Diet Light (Pizarro 724; snacks S2-7; 9:30am-10pm)
      This perennially busy place serves not-very-diet, but yummy nonetheless, ice cream (S2 to S5) and whopping servings of mixed fruit (S3) – with ice cream.
  2. (informal, figurative) Having certain traits subtracted.
    Synonyms: lite
    You folks reduce it to the bible only as being authoritative, impoverishing the faith. "Christianity Lite", diet Christianity for those who can't handle the Whole Meal.
  • Portuguese: diet
  • Russian: диети́ческий

diet (diets, present participle dieting; past and past participle dieted)

  1. (transitive) To regulate the food of (someone); to put on a diet.
      they will diet themselves, feed and live alone.
    • She diets him with fasting every day.
  2. (intransitive) To modify one's food and beverage intake so as to decrease or increase body weight or influence health.
    I've been dieting for six months, and have lost some weight.
  3. (obsolete) To eat; to take one's meals.
    • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Travel
      Let him […] diet in such places, where there is good company of the nation, where he travelleth.
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to take food; to feed.
    • 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello
      But partly led to diet my revenge […].

diet (plural diets)

  1. (usually capitalized as a proper noun) A council or assembly of leaders; a formal deliberative assembly.
    They were given representation of some important diet committees.
  2. (Scotland) A session of exams
    • “Coronavirus: School exam timetable could be put back next year”, in BBC News website, BBC, 14 Jun 20, retrieved 23 Jun 20
      Normally the diet begins towards the end of April.
  3. (Scotland, legal) The proceedings under a criminal libel.
  4. (Scotland) A clerical or ecclesiastical function in Scotland.
    a diet of worship

diet (uncountable)

  1. (microbiology) Abbreviation of direct interspecies electron transfer.

Proper noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of diet council or assembly of leaders; a formal deliberative assembly.

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