Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Swiss cheese

Swiss cheese

5 1.3
A hard pale yellow cheese with round holes
  • noun
  • /swɪs tʃiz/
translation icon : queso suizo
  • Diced ham and shredded Swiss cheese.
  • shredded Swiss cheese
  • sliced Swiss cheese
  • grated Swiss cheese

It has Swiss cheese, horseradish, maybe something else.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The French dip was excellent as well and is made with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, and mayonnaise.

    Blog text (23)

  • There's some Swiss cheese upstairs, go check it out.

    Cop Out (2010)

  • A block of Swiss cheese.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • A nice Swiss-cheese sandwich, perhaps?

    Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

  • I'm having a ham and Swiss cheese omelette.

    Philomena (2013)

  • I need two pounds of ham and a pound of Swiss cheese sliced up.

    Joe (2014)

  • He put the light toast on a plate, heaped the tuna mix on the toast, and spread Swiss cheese on the tuna.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • You can also get your pretzel topped with pork schnitzel, cabbage-apple slaw, and Swiss cheese.

    Blog text (21)

  • Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa, Grand Cayman: The classic club sandwich is made with grilled chicken breast, and Swiss cheese is added for a tangy touch.

    Blog text (15)

  • I'm having a ham and Swiss cheese omelette.

Synonyms

cheese
vsSwiss cheese
∞ 1.0

A solid food made from milk that is pressed and often aged

is a specific pale yellow variety with characteristic holes and known origin
Gruyere
vsSwiss cheese
2 4.6

A firm pale yellow Swiss cheese with a nutty taste

is defined by characteristic holes rather than mainly small ones
Emmentaler
vsSwiss cheese
7.1

A hard yellow Swiss cheese with large holes and a mild nutty taste

is defined by characteristic holes rather than especially large ones

Surface Forms

Swiss cheese singular
Swiss cheeses plural

Morphology

Swiss + cheese

The meaning 'a cheese from Switzerland' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Swiss' (from Switzerland) and 'cheese' (a dairy product). This adjective+noun compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English phrase formation, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Swiss cheese may come from how cheese makers in Switzerland made a pale yellow cheese with round holes called 'eyes'. Those holes were formed when tiny living things in the cheese made gas as it aged, so today Swiss cheese means the kind of cheese known for its holes.