Dine v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dined p. pr. & vb. n. Dining.] To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner.
Now can I break my fast, dine, sup, and sleep. --Shak.
To dine with Duke Humphrey, to go without dinner; -- a phrase common in Elizabethan literature, said to be from the practice of the poor gentry, who beguiled the dinner hour by a promenade near the tomb of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in Old Saint Paul's.
Duke n.
1. A leader; a chief; a prince. [Obs.]
Hannibal, duke of Carthage. --Sir T. Elyot.
All were dukes once, who were =\“duces” -- captains or leaders of their people.\= --Trench.
2. In England, one of the highest order of nobility after princes and princesses of the royal blood and the four archbishops of England and Ireland.
3. In some European countries, a sovereign prince, without the title of king.
Duke's coronet. See Illust. of Coronet.
To dine with Duke Humphrey, to go without dinner. See under Dine.