pastrami
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of pastrami
1935–40; < Yiddish pastrame < Romanian pastramă pressed, cured meat; a Balkanism of uncertain origin (compare Modern Greek pastramâs, Serbo-Croatian pȁstrma ), perhaps ultimately < Turkish pastιrma, taken as variant of bastιrma, equivalent to bastιr-, causative stem of bas- press, squeeze + -ma verbal noun suffix
Explanation
Pastrami is a thin-sliced kind of sandwich meat you can find at any good deli. You might order a pastrami sandwich on rye bread for lunch every Tuesday. Pastrami is a type of dark, smoked beef that is typically shaved very thin, and piled between sandwich bread, usually rye, and occasionally topped with coleslaw. A great place to sample pastrami is at a traditional Jewish delicatessen — and the word itself comes from the Yiddish pastrame, which is probably rooted in the Turkish basdirma, "dried meat."
Vocabulary lists containing pastrami
English Words Derived from Yiddish
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After the charges were announced yesterday, Einhorn tweeted: “I guess the Pastrami wasn’t so great. I never really got a chance to try it 😆.”
From New York Times • Sep. 27, 2022
Pastrami is rubbed with a dry seasoning blend of salt, pepper, coriander, and garlic, "which develops that awesome bark that's just so delicious."
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2022
George Wants Pastrami on Rye: First off — yes, this is an ideal “Seinfield” episode.
From Washington Post • Apr. 5, 2020
For the pastrami aficionados, try the Pastrami Sky High sandwich, which includes the golden deli flavor trinity of Russian dressing, coleslaw and pastrami.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2018
Breslin was to Queens Boulevard what Runyon was to Broadway – columnist, confessor and town crier, from the Pastrami King to Red McGuire’s saloon.
From The Guardian • Mar. 19, 2017
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
