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Glite Dictionary
pecan pie

pecan pie

12 1.0
A sweet pie made with pecans, sugar, and eggs
  • noun
  • /pɪˈkæn paɪ/
  • US
translation icon : pastel de pacana
  • For dessert, we enjoyed a slice of pecan pie topped with whipped cream.
  • chocolate pecan pie
  • Pecan pie for dessert
  • piece of pecan pie

The official dessert of Texas is pecan pie, apparently.

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Examples

  • The best pecan pie I've ever had in the whole wide world.

    My Other Mother (2014)

  • We will be having pecan pie made with a touch of molasses.

    Blog text (28)

  • And who made that amazing pecan pie?

    My Other Mother (2014)

  • And a piece of pecan pie.

    Reindeer Games (2000)

  • A piece of pecan pie.

    Reindeer Games (2000)

  • We have lovely pecan pie; my husband makes it himself.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • When we finished the pecan pie, I stood up to clear the table.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The official dessert of Texas is pecan pie, apparently.

    Good Mythical Morning

  • Harry has a sudden hankering for pecan pie.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Pecan pie is amazing.

    Next (2007)

Synonyms

pie
vspecan pie
696 1.0

A baked pastry with a sweet or savory filling

is a specific sweet dessert made with pecans, sugar, corn syrup, butter, and eggs

Surface Forms

pecan pie singular
pecan pies plural

Morphology

pecan + pie

The meaning is directly compositional: a pie made from pecans is readily inferred from 'pecan' (a type of nut) + 'pie' (a pastry). Naming foods by their main ingredient is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words will understand this MWE.

Etymology

The dessert pecan pie is a very literal name: it is a pie made with pecans, the sweet tree nuts often grown in the southern United States. Because it became a beloved dish at American holidays like Thanksgiving, the phrase simply means 'a sweet pie made with pecans'.