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Glite Dictionary
pheasant under glass

pheasant under glass

1 9.9
A roast pheasant served under a glass cover in fine restaurants
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : faisán bajo cristal
  • The chef recommended the pheasant under glass for its exquisite flavor and presentation at the fine dining restaurant.

Examples

  • At the upscale restaurant, the highlight of the menu was the pheasant under glass, served with seasonal vegetables.

  • I went from pheasant under glass to chicken livers and rice.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • ...pheasant under glass.

    Frankie and Johnny (1991)

  • Pheasant under glass, broccoli Hollandaise...

    There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)

  • For our anniversary dinner, we ordered the pheasant under glass, which was beautifully displayed under a glass dome.

Surface Forms

pheasant under glass singular
pheasants under glass plural

Morphology

pheasant + under + glass

The meaning 'a pheasant served under a glass cover' is directly and literally built from 'pheasant' + 'under' + 'glass' — a straightforward noun + prepositional phrase describing presentation. Although the phrase is register-specific to fine dining, its semantics are compositional and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

Pheasant under glass comes from the old practice of placing a whole roasted pheasant on the table and covering it with a clear glass lid so guests could see it. That image of a bird under glass explains why the phrase means a 'fancy' roast served in special restaurants.