meal

make a meal (out) of something (British & Australian)

to spend more time or energy doing something than is necessary. I only asked her to write a brief summary of the main points but she made a real meal out of it.

a meal ticket

someone or something that you use as a way of getting regular amounts of money for the rest of your life. Gone are the days when a university degree was a meal ticket for life.

See also: ticket

a square meal

a big meal that provides your body with all the different types of food it needs to stay healthy. Most of these supermodels don't look like they've had a square meal in their life. If you're only eating a chocolate bar for lunch you need a good square meal in the evening.

See also: square

That was a [game/meal/walk etc.] and a half! (informal)

something that you say about something that was very surprising, very good, or took a lot of time. That was a walk and a half! I'm exhausted.

See also: game, half, that, walk, was

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a few fries short of a Happy Meal

not very intelligent. I could tell he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but unfortunately you can't arrest someone for being stupid.

Usage notes: this idiom appears in many different forms, including a few cards short of a full deck, a few bricks short of a full load, a few clowns short of a circus, and a few Cokes short of a six-pack, all with the same meaning

See also: few, happy, short