Dejeuner a la Fourchette
Preserved but no longer current.
A fork lunch; a cold collation with meat and wine. The two gentlemen were consulting as to the best means of being useful to Mrs. Becky, while she was finishing her interrupted dejeuner a la fourchette — THACKERAY Vanity Fair, ch. Ixv.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Dejeuner a la Fourchette” mean?
A fork lunch; a cold collation with meat and wine. The two gentlemen were consulting as to the best means of being useful to Mrs. Becky, while she was finishing her interrupted dejeuner a la fourchette — THACKERAY Vanity Fair, ch. Ixv.
Is “Dejeuner a la Fourchette” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.