| greasy spoon | |
| —n | |
| slang a small, cheap, and often unsanitary restaurant, usually specializing in fried foods | |
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
greasy spoon definition
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greasy spoon
A cheap restaurant, especially one serving short-order fried foods. For example, College students short of cash tend to eat a lot in that greasy spoon. This expression also implies that the restaurant is not very clean. [c. 1900]