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solid food

solid food

11 1.0
Food that is not a drink and you chew before you swallow
  • noun
  • /ˈsɑːlɪd fuːd/
translation icon : alimento sólido
  • The doctor advised her to start introducing solid food to her baby's diet at six months.
  • eating solid food
  • dysphagia for solid foods

But I wasn't able to eat solid foods for a while.

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Examples

  • I started Claude on solid food at 4 months.

  • By gradually feeding a variety of solid foods to their children, mothers could ease their dependence on the breast.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The kids are eating solid food now and it's hard to keep up with them.

  • I was losing weight because I could no longer eat solid food.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • I'm eating solid food again.

  • They are not ready yet to eat solid food.

  • His first solid food was a Belgian waffle.

  • When babies transition to solid foods, iron-fortified foods are easily found in the supermarket.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The major challenge confronting cubs after weaning is obtaining enough solid food to survive and grow.

    Academic text (1998)
  • From that day, he eats more solid food—cooked and raw.

    Fiction book (1995)

Antonyms

1.0

A liquid people put in their mouths and swallow, like water or juice

4 4.1

A diet mainly of liquids like soup or juice to help you get better after surgery

How Solid

hard candy
  • US
7 1.0
solid food
11 1.0
soft diet
1 2.9
liquid diet
4 4.1

Surface Forms

solid food singular
solid foods plural

Morphology

solid + food

The meaning 'food that is not liquid' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'solid' (not liquid) with 'food'. This straightforward adjectival composition is cross-linguistically common and follows regular English noun-modifier patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Solid food gives an image of food you can hold or chew, unlike a 'drink' you sip. It highlights solid items that you must 'chew' and 'swallow', so it means food that is 'not liquid' and is eaten rather than drunk.