porridge
Americannoun
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porridges
plural
noun
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a dish made from oatmeal or another cereal, cooked in water or milk to a thick consistency
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slang a term in prison (esp in the phrase do porridge )
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of porridge
1525–35; variant of earlier poddidge, akin to pottage
Compare meaning
How does porridge compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Porridge is a thick, warm type of food similar to oatmeal. It's often a breakfast food. When you boil oats in milk or water, the end result of porridge. Porridge is served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon. It’s usually served for breakfast and is famous for appearing in the fairy tale of Goldilocks. Porridge is the food that's too hot, too cold, and then just right.
Vocabulary lists containing porridge
"The Tempest," Vocabulary from Acts 1 and 2
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Sideways Stories from Wayside School
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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.
See Examples For:
The exercise and fresh air work their plain Victorian magic; soon she is ravenous for the porridge waiting at Misselthwaite Manor.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
Without energy exposure, it can put you right off your porridge.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Many remain convinced a tsunami could yet strike, he said, as government aid workers ladled rice porridge into bowls for the evacuees.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Breakfast was porridge with bananas and peanut butter, while lunch was "usually a massive plate of rice with marmite with two eggs, or cheesy fried potatoes with eggs and veg".
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
There was a little clutch of boiled eggs as well, in their own special heater, and porridge, in a silver porringer.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Among Ms. Ahmed’s recipes you’ll find simple porridges and breads, as well as more richly seasoned side and main dishes, many spiced with xaawash—that hint of North African, Middle Eastern and Indian influence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Hygiene products like wet wipes, gels, soaps, toothpastes and porridges are also flying off the shelves in Poland, according to drugstore chain Rossmann.
From Reuters ● Mar. 16, 2022
Because polenta and grits are both cornmeal porridges, it seemed a fun and tasty way to take the Italian-Southern food connection a bit further.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2019
Mr. Mohinani had watched street fare evolve from stews and porridges to fried rice and knockoff Cheetos.
From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2017
Mama was always cooking up nourishing broths and porridges for forgotten old men and pale young mothers—on days, that is, when she herself was strong enough to stand at the stove.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
