Skip to main content
dumpling

dumpling

3.0
A piece of fruit wrapped in pastry and baked, served warm for dessert
  • noun
  • /ˈdʌmplɪŋ/
: empanadilla de manzana
  • Delores made apple dumplings, if I can interest you.
  • apple dumplings
  • pear dumplings
  • buttermilk dumplings

And now for dessert for having a dessert dumpling.

Examples

  • Amish apple dumpling.

    Blog text (17)
  • The apple dumpling is popular across the United States and common among the Amish, especially in and around Pennsylvania.

    Blog text (17)
  • I swear, I will never eat another apple dumpling as long as I live.

  • And make me an apple dumpling.

  • I had pulled out our recipe for apple dumplings last week, but did not have time to make it.

    Blog text (31)
  • She brought over her famous apple dumplings.

  • Cinnamon apple dumplings sparkling with sugar crystals are served warm from the oven.

  • For lunch, we sample local fare, including noodles, cabbage, and a hot apple dumpling.

Synonyms

pie
vsdumpling
878 1.0

A baked pastry with a sweet or savory filling

wraps fruit individually in pastry rather than filling a pan
apple dumpling
vsdumpling
1 3.3

A baked apple wrapped in dough and served as a sweet dessert

is broader and can use different fruits rather than one specific fruit
apple pud
vsdumpling
  • UK
7.0

A warm sweet dessert made from apples, often served with custard

is a specific baked pastry dessert that wraps fruit rather than a general informal name

Compounds

A baked apple wrapped in dough and served as a sweet dessert

A small dumpling filled with meat or vegetables, popular in Nepal and Tibet

crotch dumpling
  • Informal
9.9

A silly, clumsy person or a small child who sits in someone's lap

Soft dumpling from Norfolk, England usually steamed or boiled and served with stew

How Sweet

pudding
136 1.0
fruit tart
2 1.8
dumpling
3.0

Surface Forms

dumpling singular
dumplings plural

Morphology

dumpling = dump (semi-transparent) = dump + ling

Same formation as the savoury sense: 'dump' + '-ling' yields a small lump or pocket of dough; the base sense 'dump' meaning 'lump' is not common in modern English.

Etymology

The word dumpling for dessert comes from the same parts: dump ('lump') and -ling ('small one'), like in duckling. So a fruit dumpling was simply a 'small lump' of dough wrapped around fruit and baked.