cling film
- noun
- /klɪŋ fɪlm/
- UK
- When the ribs are cool enough to handle, put them on a plate, cover with plastic wrap or cling film, and refrigerate.
It's perfect for things like Ziploc bags, cling film, tinfoil, parch from paper.
- It's perfect for things like Ziploc bags, cling film, tinfoil, parch from paper.
- So we spent like a day packaging up flat flour in like cling film and then printing out loads of fake money and rolling it up into bills.
- OK, I've got the cling film cling film going on now.
Examples
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I'm going to wrap this back up in cling film and put it in the fridge and then look up how long I can fridge it for.
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I just tipped my welly upside down and found a tiny piece of shriveled up cheese wrapped in cling film, which I have no idea why that's in my welly.
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And then put another piece of cling film on top of that paper and tape the four sides around it.
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Well, six were frozen, you see, and, uh, wrapped in cling film.
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I used cling film to wrap the leftovers so they would stay fresh.
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After cutting the cake, she covered it with cling film to keep it moist.
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The recipe suggested using cling film to seal the bowl for marinating the chicken.
Synonyms
A thin layer that covers a surface to protect it
A thin clear plastic sheet used to cover food to keep it fresh
A thin clear plastic film used to cover food to keep it fresh
A thin clear plastic film that sticks to itself to cover food and keep it fresh
A thin, flexible sheet of plastic used to wrap or cover things to protect them
How Sticky
- UK
- US
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning ‘a thin sheet that clings to surfaces’ is directly derivable from combining 'cling' (to hold fast) with 'film' (a thin sheet), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to clingy plastic wrap. This is a straightforward compositional pattern (a film that clings) and is cross-linguistically transparent, making it easily understandable at B1 level.
Etymology
The noun cling film may come from the simple image of a thin film of plastic that clings to bowls and to itself. That's why the name means 'a clear plastic wrap' used to cover food and keep it fresh.