burger

¹ American  

[bur-ger] / ˈbɜr gər /

noun

1. a hamburger.

2. a food patty, or patty on a bun, containing ingredients other than beef.

   veggie or turkey burgers.

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Burger ² American  

[bur-ger] / ˈbɜr gər /

noun

1. Warren Earl, 1907–1995, U.S. jurist: chief justice of the U.S. 1969–86.

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-burger ³ American  

1. a combining form extracted from hamburger, occurring in compounds the initial element of which denotes a special garnish for a hamburger or a substitute ingredient for the meat patty.

   baconburger; cheeseburger; fishburger.

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burger ¹ British  

/ ˈbɜːɡə /

noun

1. informal

   1. short for hamburger

   2. ( in combination )

      a cheeseburger

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Bürger ² British  

/ ˈbyrɡər /

noun

1. Gottfried August (ˈɡɔtfriːt ˈauɡʊst). 1747–94, German lyric poet, noted particularly for his ballad Lenore (1773)

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Usage

What does -burger mean? The combining form -burger is used like a suffix indicating a kind of hamburger or other patty in a sandwich bun. The form -burger comes from the end of the word hamburger, meaning "a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground beef in a roll or bun." The word hamburger itself comes from a shortening of a dish named Hamburger steak, from the German city of Hamburg.

Etymology

Origin of burger

1935–40, extracted from hamburger by false analysis as ham ¹ + burger

Explanation

A grilled beef patty on a bun is called a burger. Lunch at a fast food restaurant often consists of a burger and fries. You can use the word burger as a casual shorthand for hamburger, which is ground or minced beef that's fried and served on a bun. A burger can also be made of other ingredients, like turkey or tofu or lamb. In fact, if you shape food into a patty, grill it, and put it on a roll or bun, you can call it a burger. The word was first used in 1939, from hamburger.

Example Sentences

In March, it rolled out Big Arch—a limited-time, large-format burger that features two quarter-pound beef patties, white cheddar cheese, crispy onions, pickles, and a tangy new sauce on a toasted sesame-poppy seed bun.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

Now, as the burger chain prepares to rework that menu starting Tuesday with even cheaper options, including some for under $3, some see the move as a strength.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026

"It's like tasting an amazing steak and then having to go back to a McDonald's burger," he says.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

“But a lot of times on Sundays, we’re like, ‘Hey, let’s go over there and get some tacos or get a bowl or get, you know, burger, pizzas.’”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

I told her about how Little Jimmy and I had had our Coke by the pool, how we’d eaten a burger at Krystal and gone skating at Troy’s on a rainy afternoon.

From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine