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Glite Dictionary
codfish ball

codfish ball

8.1
A small ball of mashed potato made with salted cod and often breaded and fried
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒdfɪʃ bɔːl/
  • Canadian
translation icon : buñuelo de bacalao
  • The diner serves delicious homemade codfish balls with tartar sauce.

Examples

  • She prepared a batch of crisp codfish balls for Sunday brunch.

  • My grandmother's recipe for codfish balls is a family favorite.

  • I love eating codfish balls at the beach.

  • Have you ever tried a codfish ball?

  • My grandmother's recipe for codfish balls is a family favorite.

  • She prepared a batch of crisp codfish balls for Sunday brunch.

  • The diner serves delicious homemade codfish balls with tartar sauce.

Synonyms

croquette
vscodfish ball
6 6.0

A small fried ball or roll made from meat, fish and vegetables and coated in breadcrumbs

relies on mashed potato to bind rather than a white sauce
codfish cake
vscodfish ball
  • Canadian
3.5

A small fried or baked cake made from salt cod and potatoes

has a rounded bite sized shape rather than a flat patty
fish ball
vscodfish ball
  • UK
2.6

A small round piece of fish cooked and eaten as a snack or in soup

uses mashed potato and is usually breaded and fried for a crispy snack

Surface Forms

codfish ball singular
codfish balls plural

Morphology

codfish + ball

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'codfish' (the fish/meat) with 'ball' (a small round lump): a B1 learner who knows both words would expect a small round food item made from cod. This noun–noun compounding pattern is common in English and cross-linguistically (e.g. 'fish balls'), so the construction is transparent to learners.

Etymology

Codfish ball comes from a simple cooking idea: salted, flaked codfish mixed with mashed potato and formed into a ball, then fried. That's why the name means 'a small fried ball of cod and potato'.