drummy texture

7.9

A dry, crumbly feel in baked food that breaks easily

noun

: textura quebradiza

After baking too long, the cookies developed a drummy texture and crumbled easily in the hand.

Examples

I prefer pastries with a drummy texture rather than a moist one.
The bread from that bakery often has a drummy texture, making it perfect for dipping in soup.
Her favorite type of shortbread has a drummy texture that melts in the mouth.
The cake had a drummy texture that made it hard to eat.
After baking too long, the cookies developed a drummy texture and crumbled easily in the hand.
Her favorite type of shortbread has a drummy texture that melts in the mouth.
The bread from that bakery often has a drummy texture, making it perfect for dipping in soup.

How Dry

drummy texture

7.9

crumbly

7 3.0

dry

791 1.0

moist

105 1.0

soggy

17 1.9

Surface Forms

drummy texture singular

drummy textures plural

Morphology

drummy + texture

The adjective 'drummy' is not a common, transparent English word (dictionary entry missing) and its meaning 'dry and crumbly' cannot be predicted from 'texture' or any obvious morphological root. Because the key constituent is rare/dialectal and the phrase’s meaning is idiosyncratic rather than compositional, a B1 learner who only knows the surface words would not be able to infer it.

Etymology

Drummy texture may come from the hollow sound of a drum when you tap baked food; bakers often tap bread or cake and if it sounds hollow or 'drummy' it means the inside is dry and crumbly. That's why 'drummy texture' now describes something 'dry and crumbly'.