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Glite Dictionary
red laver

red laver

8.8
Thin dark red seaweed people eat in East Asian cooking, often as sushi sheets
  • noun
translation icon : alga roja
  • You can find red laver at most Asian grocery stores, usually sold in thin, crispy sheets.

Examples

  • Dried red laver is commonly used in soups and salads in East Asian dishes.

  • The sushi chef wrapped the rice and fish in sheets of red laver.

  • I love adding red laver to my sushi.

  • Have you tried red laver in your salads?

  • Dried red laver is commonly used in soups and salads in East Asian dishes.

  • The sushi chef wrapped the rice and fish in sheets of red laver.

  • You can find red laver at most Asian grocery stores, usually sold in thin, crispy sheets.

Synonyms

Porphyra
vsred laver
  • Specialized
8.4

A red seaweed people eat, for example as dried sheets for sushi

is the culinary name for the red edible species from that genus
laver
vsred laver
  • UK
9.7

An edible seaweed used for food in places like Wales and Japan

is the term for specifically reddish species used mainly in Asian cuisine

Surface Forms

red laver singular
red lavers plural

Morphology

red + laver

The meaning 'an edible reddish seaweed' is directly and compositionally derived from 'red' (a color) + 'laver' (seaweed used as food). Color + noun combinations are a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The noun red laver names a reddish seaweed: laver was the word for edible seaweed and red describes its colour. People dried it into thin sheets to eat or to wrap rice, so today red laver means the edible 'seaweed' used in cooking.