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canapé

[kan-uh-pee, -pey; French ka-na-pey]
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noun, plural can·a·pés [kan-uh-peez, -peyz; French ka-na-pey] /ˈkæn ə piz, -ˌpeɪz; French ka naˈpeɪ/.
  1. a thin piece of bread or toast or a cracker spread or topped with cheese, caviar, anchovies, or other savory food.
  2. Furniture. a sofa of 18th-century France, made in any of several forms, often with matching chairs.
  3. Bridge. a style of bidding in which short suits are bid before long ones.
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Origin of canapé

1885–90; < French: literally, a covering or netting, orig. for a bed (see canopy), by extension for a piece of bread
Can be confusedcanapé canopy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for canape

Historical Examples

  • She and Peter were in the pantry, deep in the manufacture of a certain sort of canape.

    Sisters

    Kathleen Norris

  • An oxeye daisy, p. 31, may be placed in center of canape, in the wreath of parsley.

    The Laurel Health Cookery

    Evora Bucknum Perkins

  • It consists of oysters, a canape, a fruit cocktail, grapefruit or something else of the same kind.

    Book of Etiquette, Volume 2

    Lillian Eichler Watson

British Dictionary definitions for canape

canapé

noun
  1. a small piece of bread, toast, etc, spread with a savoury topping
  2. (in French cabinetwork) a sofa
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Word Origin

C19: from French: sofa
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