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garlic clove

garlic clove

9 1.7
A small part of a garlic bulb covered in thin dry skin used in cooking
  • noun
  • /ˈɡɑːrlɪk kloʊv/
translation icon : diente de ajo
  • The garlic cloves are then sliced finely and added to the chicken in a bowl using the olive oil.
  • minced garlic cloves
  • chopped garlic cloves
  • peeled garlic cloves

So we're going to come back up in about a week and we're going to get some garlic cloves or heads of garlic from our local grocery store.

Examples

  • 4 or 5 fresh garlic cloves, chopped

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  • To the ground lamb, I added ground beef, one hot Italian sausage, one yellow onion, and four or five garlic cloves.

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  • Dice your garlic cloves and set aside.

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  • Oh yeah, I put corn in it and whole garlic cloves for the flavour.

  • I'm going to mince a garlic clove and put that in the sauce.

  • Smash the garlic cloves with a knife and chop them into a fine paste.

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  • I sautéed a quarter of an onion and one garlic clove in olive oil.

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  • Add garlic cloves and large onion sections in the roaster pan, cover tightly with foil, and bake, basting frequently throughout the baking process.

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  • Cut the onion into wedges and scatter it in the bottom of a roasting tray with the carrots, celery, and garlic cloves (unpeeled).

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  • To enhance the flavor of the dish, add one minced garlic clove to the sauce.

Synonyms

clove
vsgarlic clove
33 2.4

A small piece of garlic you separate from the bulb

is the cooking unit noted for having a thin papery skin

Surface Forms

garlic clove singular
garlic cloves plural

Morphology

garlic + clove

The meaning 'one of the small segments that make up a garlic bulb' is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents 'garlic' (the plant/bulb) + 'clove' (a small segment). This noun+noun combination is a common, cross-linguistic way to name parts of a whole, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Garlic clove names one small piece of a garlic bulb. The word clove comes from how each piece looks like a little 'claw' or 'nail' and is a separate segment with a thin skin, so when a recipe says 'two garlic cloves' it means two of these small pieces.