street food

noun

plural street foods

: prepared food of a kind that is typically sold to customers on a street or sidewalk and that is often designed to be carried and eaten while walking

Pizza is quintessentially a street food: a quick lunch or a quick snack often eaten standing up or on the go.

—Don Lesser

Traditionally eaten as street food, empanadas are ideal for snacking on the go but are just as satisfying to sit down to for a simple dinner.

—Melissa Roberts and Maggie Ruggiero

Satays, which are skewered and grilled morsels of beef, fish, chicken, pork, or vegetables, are street food in Southeast Asia, devoured day and night with gusto.

—Karen MacNeil

Examples of street food in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What to do nearby This part of Bangkok is a shoppers' haven, surrounded by EM District’s trio of malls—EmQuartier, Emporium, and Emsphere—each offering a unique selection, from high-end boutiques to entire floors dedicated to street food. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Nov. 2026

Like shingara, fuchka is a ubiquitous street food in Bangladesh, and very similar to India’s pani puri. — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026

Chef Garima Arora, of the Michelin two-star Gaa in Bangkok, will take guests on a trip through India via coastal curries and elevated street food at the hotel’s Yaari. — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 3 Nov. 2026

Guests will be greeted with tostilocos, another street food delicacy, Tostitos with jicama, cucumber, peanuts, sweet and tangy chamoy, hot sauce and lime. — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 30 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for street food

• accrued
• allude
• collude
• conclude
• construed
• debuted
• delude
• elude
• endued
• ensued
• eschewed
• etude

Kids Definition

street food

noun

: prepared food of a kind that is typically sold to customers on a street or sidewalk and that is often designed to be carried and eaten while walking