Definition of "cafeteria" []

• A restaurant in which the customers are served at a counter and carry their meals on trays to tables. (noun)
• A dining area, as at a school or office building, where meals may be purchased or brought from home and eaten. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "When the cafeteria is an internal operation the firm records the various expenses associated with operating the cafeteria and that's that."
• "They loved everything I suggested, but now that the cafeteria is back open, they are back to eating there every day."
• "But am I the only person here who thinks doing it personally, and then going to school to talk about it in the cafeteria, is likely to make some Jews feel threatened in school."