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Glite Dictionary
saltine

saltine

12 1.9
A thin, crisp square cracker with salt often eaten as a snack
  • noun
  • /sɔːlˈtiːn/
  • US
translation icon : galleta salada
  • Neese's is good on saltines, and sandwiches are easier to find and can be eaten out of the package.
  • saltine cracker
  • eat saltines
  • saltines with butter

I know it's not healthy, but I feel so uplifted that it may be better for me than I think to eat those damn saltines in my bed.

Examples

  • Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his cousin pop another buttered saltine into her mouth.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • We're looking for the premium saltine from Nabisco.

  • Kids who score on the bottom get a saltine cracker.

    Blog text (15)

  • We're looking for the premium Saltine from Nabisco.

  • Well, we ran out of cookies, so I brought you milk and saltines.

    Four Rooms (1995)

  • Juancho bites into a Saltine.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • You get saltines in cellophane packages with your soup, too.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • I ate my saltines and not my chicken noodle, and then I took a sip of OJ, and it was delicious.

    Under the Silver Lake (2018)

  • The biggest challenge has been navigating preschool, birthdays, etc., where the norm is goldfish and saltines.

    Blog text (12)

  • I enjoyed my soup with a few saltines on the side to add some crunch.

Synonyms

cracker
vssaltine
  • US
114 1.0

A thin, crisp biscuit often eaten with cheese or soup

is the specific kind that also has salt sprinkled before baking
soda cracker
vssaltine
  • US
1 2.8

A thin, crisp plain baked snack often eaten with cheese or soup

focuses on having salt sprinkled on top before baking

How Salty

saltine
  • US
12 1.9
soda cracker
  • US
1 2.8
cracker
  • US
114 1.0

Surface Forms

saltine singular
saltines plural

Morphology

saltine = salt (semi-transparent) = salt + ine

The word is clearly built from 'salt' + the suffix '-ine' (meaning 'of or relating to salt' / a salted item), but the suffix '-ine' is less productive for learners, and the stable lexical sense 'a type of cracker' may not be fully predictable.

Etymology

Saltine comes from the word salt plus the little ending -ine, which here means 'made with' or 'like'. So a saltine is a small, thin cracker 'made with' salt, which explains why it is salty and very crisp.