chowline

• chow line

chow +‎ line

chowline (plural chowlines)

1. A line of people waiting for food.
   • 1974, Victor C Ferkiss, The future of technological civilization:

     ...men who had grown up in a world of dogtags, chowlines and mass organization.

   • 1982, John Weitz, Friends in high places:

     At lunchtime, the train stopped again, and an army style chowline was set up...

   • 2007 January 10, Anne Mendelson, “At the Temples of Food, an Outsider’s Look at the Sacred Texts”, in New York Times‎:

     Yet apparently millions of us just love being nudged or browbeaten into particular chowlines by someone else with an air of authority, from weight-loss guru to restaurant reviewer.