doughnut

Or do·nut

[doh-nuht, -nuht]

noun

1. a small cake of sweetened or, sometimes, unsweetened dough fried in deep fat, typically shaped like a ring or, when prepared with a filling, a ball.

2. anything shaped like a thick ring; an annular object; toroid.

doughnut

/ ˈdəʊnʌt /

noun

1. a small cake of sweetened dough, often ring-shaped or spherical with a jam or cream filling, cooked in hot fat

2. anything shaped like a ring, such as the reaction vessel of a thermonuclear reactor

verb

1. informal,  (tr) (of Members of Parliament) to surround (a speaker) during the televising of Parliament to give the impression that the chamber is crowded or the speaker is well supported

Word History and Origins

Origin of doughnut¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; dough + nut

Example Sentences

On the roadside, a young woman selling sweet doughnuts tells the BBC she earns $2.30 a week, money she relies on to feed her four-year-old child.

Read more on BBC

Of course, one person’s happy doughnut memory is another person’s invasion.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The aforementioned fry bread, for instance, is an almost dessert-like doughnut that arrives between the salad and main duck course.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It included a specific instruction "no bread" but on 30 January 2023, an agency care worker gave her three small pieces of doughnut with jam on them.

Read more on BBC

PORTLAND, Ore. — There is a rhetorical battle raging here in this heavily Democratic city, known for its delicious coffee, plethora of fancy restaurants, bespoke doughnuts and also for its small faction of black-clad activists.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bun 
• pastry