diner

noun

din·​er ˈdī-nər 

1

: a person who dines (as in a restaurant) or who is dining

2

a

: dining car

b

chiefly US : a typically small, informal, and inexpensive restaurant that has an extensive menu and that is often made from or designed to resemble a modified railroad dining car

had lunch at a roadside diner

Synonyms of diner

• restaurant

Examples of diner in a Sentence

we'll just grab a quick hamburger at the local diner

Recent Examples on the Web

Making restaurant reservations on their creator’s behalf is one of the AI assistants’ most visible use cases, especially as diners face the growing headache of navigating different apps and credit card reward tiers just to book a meal. — T.m. Brown, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2026

Next door is a diner run by Calvin Wilkes (Brian Altemus), her boyfriend from high school. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 23 Sep. 2026

Like at his Moxie’s restaurant in Southlake, the menu appeals to local diners who want something a notch better than chains. — Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Sep. 2026

Cassavetes sets the tone right from the beginning, in a scene between Moskowitz and a fellow diner in a restaurant. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing diner

• diner-out

Rhymes for diner

• finer
• liner
• miner
• minor
• schreiner
• seiner
• shiner
• shriner
• signer
• spinor
• viner
• weiner

Kids Definition

diner

noun

din·​er ˈdī-nər 

1

: one that dines

2

a

: dining car

b

: a restaurant in the shape of a railroad car