給食（きゅうしょく、kyuushoku）
- school lunch

The Japanese word 給食 （きゅうしょく） refers to school lunch. It is a meal provided to students at schools in Japan, and it's a significant part of the educational system and Japanese culture. 給食 is typically a balanced meal designed to provide children with the necessary nutrients for growth and learning. It can also encompass meals in other places, such as work places.

⚫︎今日の給食はカレーライスです。 Translation: Today's school lunch is curry and rice. ⚫︎学校の給食はとても美味しいです。 Translation: The school lunch is very delicious. ⚫︎私は毎日給食を食べています。 Translation: I eat school lunch every day.

You use 給食 when talking about the school lunch program, the food served, or the act of eating lunch at school. It's a common topic of conversation among students, parents, and teachers. You can use it to talk about what you had for lunch, whether you liked it, or to make plans to eat lunch.

給食 is written in kanji as 給食, with the reading in hiragana as きゅうしょく. There are no other common ways to write this word. The okurigana is standard.

There are no direct synonyms, but phrases describing the meal can sometimes be used. Other terms are used to talk about lunch in general, but not specifically the school lunch program: ⚫︎ 昼食 （ちゅうしょく） - Lunch ⚫︎ ランチ - Lunch (loanword from English)

There are no direct antonyms, but you could consider the opposite of "eating school lunch" to be, for example: ⚫︎ 自宅で食べる （じたくでたべる） - Eating at home.

学校の給食は、栄養バランスが良く考えられています。 ・Translation: School lunches are designed with good nutritional balance in mind. ・Explanation: This sentence highlights the nutritional aspect of school lunch.

給食の時間、みんなで楽しく食べます。 ・Translation: We enjoy eating together during school lunch time. ・Explanation: This sentence focuses on the social aspect of school lunch.

The word 給食 is a compound word. 給 （きゅう） means "supply" or "provide," and 食 （しょく） means "meal" or "food." Therefore, the literal meaning of 給食 is "meal supply" or "provision of meals," which perfectly describes the function of school lunches.