to lard down

8.4

Make something richer by adding fat or extra things that are not needed

phrasal verb

: engordar

The chef chose to lard down the sauce with extra butter and cream.

Examples

Too many authors lard down their books with unnecessary details.
They decided to lard down the turkey for Thanksgiving!
She tends to lard down her meals with cheese and rich toppings.
The chef lards down the pasta with creamy sauce.
He loves to lard down his burgers with extra bacon and sauces.
For the holiday feast, she decided to lard down the mashed potatoes with butter and cream.
Many people like to lard down their salads with rich dressings and toppings.

Synonyms

to lard

vsto lard down

1 6.9

To add fat to meat or pastry to keep it moist during cooking

aims to make something richer, heavier, or more indulgent by smothering

to lard up

vsto lard down

8.6

To make food very fatty by adding lots of fat

covers making things richer or heavier by adding fat, ingredients, or smothering

Antonyms

to lighten

26 2.5

To make a load or worry feel less heavy

to thin out

Informal

5 3.5

Remove some people or things so the rest are more spread out

How Rich

to lard down

8.4

to lard

1 6.9

to enrich

85 3.9

to season

43 1.7

Surface Forms

lard down infinitive

larded down past

larded down past participle

larding down present participle

lards down third person singular

Morphology

lard + down

Because 'lard' already means to add fat and the particle 'down' conveys thorough application or intensification, the combined sense 'make richer/heavier by adding fat or smothering' is directly derivable from the constituents. A B1 learner who knows both words would plausibly infer this compositional meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Lard down may come from old cooking, where cooks would lard a roast by pushing strips of fat down into the meat to make it richer and juicier. So today to lard down means 'to make something richer or heavier' by adding fat, extra ingredients, or too many details.