English idiom

food for thought

Register · Neutral CEFR B1

Post

Figurative meaning

an idea or piece of information worth thinking carefully about

Why this phrase?

Ideas are compared to food that the mind can consume and digest.

Example

“The survey results gave the planning team plenty of food for thought.”

Dictionary details

Tags

Expressions connected by reviewed component words or topic tags.

come to mind

to appear in one's thoughts or memory

brain power

intelligence or mental ability used to think and solve problems

think twice

to reconsider an action carefully before doing it

get one's thoughts together

to calm down and organize your thinking before acting or speaking

go without saying

to be so obvious that it does not need to be stated

jump to conclusions

to form an opinion too quickly, before considering enough evidence

Source methodology

Meanings, register, CEFR, and examples come from the reviewed dictionary record. Expression notes may describe a reviewed present-day word picture or a background note; they are not presented as verified etymology.

External links

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