Is there a word/phrase/idiom for temporarily satisfying strong feeling of hunger?

Question

Imagine a situation where you've been invited to dinner at a friend's place. You're extremely hungry but you learn that the dinner won't be ready for another half an hour. So you decide to eat an apple or a bite of bread or some other small thing which will not satisfy your hunger fully, but will temporarily make it more tolerable. Is there a word/phrase/idiom to describe this small snack prior to a big meal?

The Russian equivalent of what I am looking for is заморить червячка, which literally means to starve/kill the little worm. The only translation I found of this idiom was to stay one's hunger. However, I couldn't find any usage examples of it and the google query for define:to stay one's hunger doesn't return anything useful, so I guess this idiom, if used at all, isn't very common.

Answer 1

To stay one's hunger is perfectly acceptable, and not at all uncommon (though it's actually more likely to be "stay your appetite"). Less common, and with less of a "temporarily" sense, would be assuage one's hunger. But I think probably the most common idiomatic usage is...

Here - have a sandwich to stave off your hunger until dinnertime.

...which my mother used to say to me when I was a child. Perhaps this one gains traction by alliteration / association with both stay and starve.

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to stave off
to fend off, to ward off (something adverse) _{Merriam-Webster}

(To metaphorically repel / drive away using a stave = staff = stick.)

Answer 2

Although I see this has already been answered, I was surprised not to see 'tide you over' in the discussion.

After doing a little research, I see that this idiom is commonly used in situations like money lending: "I was flat broke, so he lent me $200 to tide me over until my next paycheck."

However, in my family we used it exclusively in situations like you described - and it was indeed often an apple I would eat to tide me over until dinner!

Answer 3

I think you may be describing having an appetizer.

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines:

Appetizer ap·​pe·​tiz·​er | \ ˈa-pə-ˌtī-zər \

1: a food or drink that stimulates the appetite and is usually served before a meal The appetizers included shrimp with cocktail sauce, vegetables and dips, cheeses, and fruits.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appetizer

Answer 4

"To take the edge off" seems to fit.

take the edge off (something) - To make something less intense, severe, or unpleasant.

• We won't be having lunch for another hour, but if you're hungry now, I've got some snacks to take the edge off.

I've also heard "tide someone over", as in "here, have a cookie. It should tide you over until dinner."

from TFD - "To maintain, sustain, or support someone through a lean or difficult time until more of something is acquired, typically food or money.