Main definitions of diet in English

1The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.

1. 1.1The activities, pastimes, etc. in which a person or group habitually engages.
   ‘screen violence is becoming the staple diet of the video generation’
   More example sentences

   • ‘I confess that I've not made it part of my regular blog diet, but I think I may.’
   • ‘Even the best-fed consumers have only four to five ‘kitchens’ dishing up their regular news diet.’
   • ‘It seems that for many average internet users, blogs still merely provide an information supplement at some specific times, rather than a regular news diet.’
   • ‘This music has enriched the musical diet of choral establishments, collegiate and cathedral, throughout the Anglican Communion.’
   • ‘Hymns with a military theme used to be a staple in the musical diet of Christians in North America.’
   • ‘But life is short and workdays are long so I have to be choosy about what to include in my diet of books and I like to read widely with a balanced diet of different genres.’
   • ‘Have we become a nation of obese imbeciles too sated with our diet of consumerism, television and self-indulgence to care who is pulling the strings at the top?’
   • ‘The White House strategy so far is to feed the media a regular diet of press conferences from key figures within the administration.’
   • ‘Of course, no one is suggesting that Congress subsist on a regular diet of impeachments.’
   • ‘Applications to strike out for want of prosecution have become the common diet of the courts, but there are two unusual features of the present case.’
   • ‘It is the staple diet of Courts of Appeal around this country.’
   • ‘The early seventies took him west to San Francisco and a diet of Irish music sessions.’
   • ‘If she stayed, she would be assigned a steady diet of deportation orders from the criminal division to defend.’
   • ‘The channel would present a constant diet of obituaries of the ordinary people who die every day.’

2A special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.

1. 2.1as modifier (of food or drink) with reduced fat or sugar content.
   ‘diet soft drinks’
   More example sentences

   • ‘I only drank diet soda, and I started to get more seafood including sushi.’
   • ‘Worse still, aspartame is contained in most of these diet foods and drinks.’
   • ‘Woman who drank diet soda pop that was artificially sweetened did not show any increased risk and tended to lose weight.’
   • ‘To fuel her long days, Valerie relied on a diet of fast food and drank six to 12 cans of caffeinated diet soda a day.’
   • ‘Stop eating fake food - most everything labeled as diet food or diet beverage.’
   • ‘Would you drink a diet cola if you knew it gave lab rats a sugar rush?’
   • ‘I personally believe that drinking the water from a young nut is a much healthier choice than drinking some of those diet sodas that are loaded with artificial sweeteners.’
   • ‘But Ireland is no longer the Mecca for tea brands it once was, with the average office worker as likely to have a diet cola drink, or a cappuccino, as a cup of tea at break time.’
   • ‘She stayed up in her room for the remainder of the night smoking and drinking the diet soda she had stashed under her bed.’
   • ‘It found that the more diet soda a person drinks, the greater the chance that he or she will become overweight or obese.’
   • ‘Avoid all artificial sweeteners found in diet drinks and some diabetic foods as these are toxic to the liver and can cause hypoglycaemia and fatigue.’
   • ‘He has cut them out and drinks water rather than diet drinks, which he doesn't particularly enjoy.’
   • ‘Limit yourself to two caloric beverages, then try sparkling water or diet drinks.’
   • ‘Children should drink water or diet drinks rather than juice or cola drinks.’
   • ‘Despite all of my talking in this post about diet drinks, I am working pretty hard at drinking two to three litres of water a day.’
   • ‘Personally, I hate the after taste of diet drinks and would rather forgo the cola.’
   • ‘Fruit drink and diet drink consumption increased diabetes risk, but fruit juice intake did not.’
   • ‘They quiz me about the hottest new diet snack food, offer to be my running buddy and reveal their food obsessions.’
   • ‘A year after launch, it was America's most popular diet drink, a position it has never relinquished.’
   • ‘I waste money on all sorts of stuff - cable television, deli sandwiches, diet ginger ale.’

1Restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.

1. 1.1with object Put (a person or animal) on a special diet.
   ‘He dieted me down to 185, to make sure I was as lean as possible.’

1A legislative assembly in certain countries.

1. 1.1historical A regular meeting of the states of a confederation.
2. 1.2Scots Law A meeting or session of a court.
   ‘That judgment sympathetically, clearly and concisely deals with a case that must have been very far from the ordinary diet of a judge sitting in the crown court.’