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scampi

[skam-pee, skahm-]
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noun, plural scam·pi. Italian Cookery.
  1. a large shrimp or prawn.
  2. a dish of shrimp or prawns grilled or sautéed in oil or butter and garlic.

Origin of scampi

1920–25; < Italian, plural of scampo
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for scampi

Historical Examples

  • Better still are scampi, a kind of small crawfish, rather like tenderer and sweeter langouste.

    A Wanderer in Venice

    E.V. Lucas

British Dictionary definitions for scampi

scampi

noun
  1. (usually functioning as singular) large prawns, usually eaten fried in breadcrumbs

Word Origin

Italian: plural of scampo shrimp, of obscure origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scampi

n.

1930, plural of Italian scampo "prawn," ultimately from Greek kampe "a bending, a winding," from PIE root *kamp- "to bend" (see campus).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper