crumpet
Americannoun
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a round soft unsweetened bread resembling a muffin, cooked on a griddle or the like, and often toasted.
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British Slang. a sexually attractive woman.
noun
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a light soft yeast cake full of small holes on the top side, eaten toasted and buttered
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(in Scotland) a large flat sweetened cake made of batter
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slang women collectively
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slang a sexually desirable woman
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slang utterly worthless
Etymology
Origin of crumpet
1350–1400; short for crumpetcake curled cake, equivalent to Middle English crompid (past participle of crumpen, variant of crampen to bend, curl ( cramp 1 ) + cake
Explanation
A crumpet is a spongy bread that's cooked on a griddle and served warm with butter. Crumpets are a delicious alternative to toast or English muffins. Crumpets were probably invented in Wales as a way to make bread without access to an oven. Like English muffins, they're cooked on a hot pan or griddle, but crumpets are made from a batter, rather than a dough. Etymologists suspect that crumpet may derive from crompid cake, "wafer," or literally "curled-up cake," and its root, which is shared with crumple.
Vocabulary lists containing crumpet
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.
He writes that they shared tea, cakes and sandwiches - with the duke saying he ate a crumpet with Marmite.
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2023
Later I’ll probably have some leftover anchovies on a crumpet, or a pear smeared in peanut butter.
From The Guardian • Mar. 10, 2020
Analysis: This category is crazy crowded, so much so that I can’t even see the crumpet contingent managing to put “Downton’s” Maggie Smith back among the nominees.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2016
We also use words like fortnight and crumpet and jolly good, so we should probably not be taken very seriously.
From Slate • Aug. 5, 2014
“Oh, my dear boy, we’re not going to punish you for a little thing like that!” cried Fudge, waving his crumpet impatiently.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
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.
