Alternative spellings

• fast-food

Noun

Singular fast food

Plural uncountable

fast food (uncountable)

1. A type of meal that is often standardized, pre-prepared, and served quickly.
2. A type of food that is quickly made, but of low nutritional value; junk food.
3. Anything standardized, quickly available, and inexpensive, often, of low value.
   • 2002 March 29, “Going Offshore”, TIME:

     The best evidence is that Sandals, the fast-food king of island weddings, now markets the term weddingmoons.

   • 2007, Margo Candela, Life over easy:

     Guys are good for two things: 1) help when you need to move something heavy, and 2) fast-food sex where you always know what's on the menu and, with a little work, you can supersize it

   • 2008 August 19, Carmen K. Sisson, “A Georgia church tries drive-in worship”, Christian Science Monitor, page 25:

     Outside, the drive-in crowd is heading back into the Sturm und Drang of city traffic and a fast-food world

Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.l,b.

Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating, or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants). Franchise operations which are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations.

The capital requirements involved in opening up a fast food restaurant are relatively low. Restaurants with much higher sit-in ratios, where customers tend to sit and have their orders brought to them in a seemingly more upscale atmosphere, may be known in some areas as fast casual restaurants.