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butter

butter

635 1.0
A soft yellow food made from cream used for cooking and spreading
  • noun
  • /ˈbʌtər/
translation icon : mantequilla
  • I spilled butter all over my clothes.
  • bread and butter
  • peanut butter
  • guns and butter

Use grass fed or ghee butter or or tallow.

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Examples

  • Dinner was wonderful: huge platters of lasagna, soft hot rolls with sweet butter, and salad for greenery.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • For breakfast, we got white bread, peanut butter, and marmalade with coffee, but no milk.

    Academic text (2008)
  • I could use some butter.

  • Just a touch of butter.

  • There was no milk in the coffee nor butter in those days.

    Academic text (1995)
  • We have sugar, we have butter, we have also flour and salt.

  • You like peanut butter, Kim?

  • I'm gonna use two sticks of butter, one hard, one soft.

  • ASHLEY: Grammy, can I have some butter, please?

  • To make the cake: Cream sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

Synonyms

beurre
vsbutter
2 8.6

A soft yellow food made from milk used for cooking and spreading

is the common English term rather than the French culinary name
brown butter
vsbutter
2 2.9

Melted butter cooked until it turns brown and tastes nutty

is the plain pale spread used for cooking and as a spread
clarified butter
vsbutter
1 3.6

A clear cooking fat made by melting butter and removing water and solid bits of milk

is the basic pale spread made from churned cream with solids and water present
drawn butter
vsbutter
  • US
1 6.3

Melted butter with the solid parts of milk removed that is used as a sauce for seafood

is the general pale spread not a prepared sauce for seafood

Idioms

A funny phrase people say when they cannot believe something

A pointless attempt that is unlikely to work

A way someone earns money to live

To benefit from two people or groups at the same time by being dishonest

Seems very innocent and quiet but is not really kind

Fails to make a strong point because it is dull and weak

9.9

Something someone says that is not true

To give someone money or a job so they can live

Compounds

148 1.0

A thick smooth or crunchy spread you make from ground roasted nuts for bread

bread and butter
  • Informal
16 3.0

The main way a person earns money

7 1.0

A small dull tool with a rounded blade for spreading butter

5 1.0

A small crisp cookie made with a lot of butter

3 3.1

A pale yellow fat from cocoa beans used to make chocolate and skin creams

3 2.1

A thick sweet spread from apples slowly cooked with sugar and spices until smooth

2 7.4

A container for making butter by stirring cream until butter forms

2 1.2

A small dish with a lid for keeping and serving butter at the table

2 2.9

Melted butter cooked until it turns brown and tastes nutty

Butter mixed with garlic that you put on bread or use in cooking

1 2.8

An issue that affects people's money or daily living costs

A clear cooking fat made by melting butter and removing water and solid bits of milk

1 2.7

A smooth spread made from crushed nuts

1 3.4

A soft cream-like fat made from the nut of an African tree used on skin and in cooking

1 2.0

A plant that makes large flat beans people cook and eat

1 6.3

Melted butter with the solid parts of milk removed that is used as a sauce for seafood

1 3.4

A thick cream used on the skin to make it soft and less dry

A spread made from peanuts with small pieces that add crunch

1 2.9

A sauce of browned butter with lemon juice and parsley for fish or vegetables

yak butter
  • Indian
1 7.4

A type of butter made from yak milk used in Tibetan and Himalayan cooking

Bercy butter
  • Specialized
8.1

A flavored butter mixed with shallots, parsley and white wine to top grilled meat or fish

A sweet thin slice of cucumber kept in vinegar, sugar, and onion

A bush that grows small flat beans you can eat, often served as a vegetable

butter-box
  • Offensive
9.9

A person who praises others to get their approval

A small wild flower with bright yellow shiny petals

9.5

An annual plant with grey-green leaves and bright yellow flowers that grows in dry sunny places

A plant from Europe with bright yellow and orange flowers often seen as a weed

bull butter
  • Archaic
9.9

Talk that is not true and that people do not believe

Colbert butter
  • Specialized
9.9

A flavored butter made with parsley, tarragon, and beef extract served on meat

A spread made from butter and mashed anchovies

A type of butter that chefs mix with chopped lobster or lobster flavor to spread on food

meuniere butter
  • Specialized
8.8

Butter browned and flavored with lemon and parsley served over fish or vegetables

Soft butter mixed with small pieces of onion used to add flavor to food

A soft spread of mashed red peppers mixed into butter

7.6

A cheap substitute for butter like margarine or peanut butter

Butter mixed with small pieces of shrimp and used as a spread or in cooking

Flavored butter with garlic, shallots, and parsley used to cook snails

9.9

Ordinary talk that is simple and not deep

A yellow jelly fungus that grows on rotting wood and looks like lumps of butter

How Fatty

butterfat
  • Specialized
1 3.7
butter
635 1.0
cream
864 1.0
whole milk
11 1.0
low-fat milk
3 1.0
skim milk
  • US
11 2.0

Surface Forms

butter singular
butters plural

Etymology

Butter comes from an old Greek word made of bout- 'cow' and tyron 'cheese', so it originally meant 'cow cheese'. That's why butter today is the creamy fat made from milk that we use for cooking and as a spread.