custard
Americannoun
noun
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a baked sweetened mixture of eggs and milk
-
a sauce made of milk and sugar and thickened with cornflour
Etymology
Origin of custard
1400–50; late Middle English, metathetic variant of earlier crustade kind of pie. See crust, -ade 1; compare Provençal croustado
Compare meaning
How does custard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Custard is a sweet, pudding-like dessert that's usually made with eggs. You might prefer frozen custard to ice cream as a summertime treat. Custard comes in a few different forms, including baked, frozen, and boiled. Baked custard is made with a combination of eggs, milk or cream, sugar, and sometimes flavoring, chocolate, or spices, that's cooked in small dishes sitting in a pan of water. The result is smooth, creamy, and rich. In the 14th century, a custard was a "meat or fruit pie," from croustado, an Old Provençal word literally meaning "something covered with crust."
Vocabulary lists containing custard
Pie Chart: Dessert Words
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The Night Diary
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Ten Most Relevant Words: Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 1
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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.
The chorus is partially sung in German, while the verses reference traditional English desserts like "roly poly with custard".
From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026
The film’s repeated invocation of its own title in different contexts is another instance of adding too many eggs to the custard.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025
Dollops of apple butter melt into the warm custard during baking, creating pockets of spiced fruit that taste like fall condensed into a single slice.
From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025
"I want to demonstrate that I can make serious points by flinging a custard pie around the stage for a couple of hours," the Czech-born Stoppard said in a 1970s interview.
From Barron's • Nov. 29, 2025
“A dessert is a sweet food eaten at the end of a meal. Popular desserts include cake and custard and ice cream.”
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
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.
