cereal

[seer-ee-uhl]

noun

1. any plant of the grass family yielding an edible grain, as wheat, rye, oats, rice, or corn.

2. the grain itself.

3. some edible preparation of it, especially a breakfast food.

adjective

1. of or relating to grain or the plants producing it.

cereal

/ ˈsɪərɪəl /

noun

1. any grass that produces an edible grain, such as oat, rye, wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, and millet

2. the grain produced by such a plant

3. any food made from this grain, esp breakfast food

4. (modifier) of or relating to any of these plants or their products

   cereal farming

cereal

1. A grass, such as corn, rice, sorghum, or wheat, whose starchy grains are used as food. Cereals are annual plants, and cereal crops must be reseeded for each growing season. Cereal grasses were domesticated during the Neolithic Period and formed the basis of early agriculture.

Other Word Forms

• noncereal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cereal¹

1590–1600; < Latin Cereālis of, pertaining to Ceres; -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of cereal¹

C19: from Latin cereālis concerning agriculture, of _Ceres ¹

Example Sentences

He has been struck by steady increases in the prices of sliced turkey, cereal and yogurt.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"But it did creep into a job styling some cereal boxes. There was a Rice Krispy that looked like a skull. I thought: 'Come on, stop seeing skulls everywhere'."

Read more on BBC

Blind boxes are like Pokémon cards, or the toys in cereal boxes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Lots of things are more expensive, but coffee isn’t like cereal or chicken.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In 2023, Gabriel authored the California Food Safety Act, which prohibits several food additives — including red dye No. 3 — that are commonly found in soda, candy and cereal.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bran 
• corn 
• grain 
• rice 
• wheat