onion roll
- noun
- /ˈʌnjən roʊl/
- On Sunday nights, at Uncle Bill's, Aunt Rose's, or Uncle Eddie's, someone goes to the bakery and brings back sacks of onion rolls and pumpernickel bread.
Examples
-
We had delicious sandwiches made with fresh onion rolls and various toppings.
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Get a dozen onion rolls.
Fiction book (1993) -
You know, some onion rolls, bagels.
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... and/or a spinach pie or onion roll from Orwasher's ...
Blog text (15) -
"A dozen onion rolls—and I'm in a rush."
Fiction book (1999) -
He enjoyed a burger served on a warm onion roll at the outdoor cafe.
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For breakfast, she toasted an onion roll and spread butter on it before adding jam.
How Oniony
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'onion' + 'roll' — a roll that contains or is flavored with onion. This follows a common noun+noun food-naming pattern found across languages and contains no idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Onion roll names a soft roll that has onion mixed into the dough or placed on top when it is baked. So the name means 'a bread roll flavored with onions'.