dumpling
a rounded mass of steamed and seasoned dough, often served in soup or with stewed meat.
a dessert consisting of a wrapping of dough enclosing sliced apples or other fruit, boiled or baked.
a short or stout person.
Compare Meanings
Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
Origin of dumpling
1Words Nearby dumpling
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dumpling in a sentence
Whoever ends up with these dumplings is granted good luck for the rest of the year.
Homemade dumplings bring me closer to family this Lunar New Year, even from far away | Marian Liu | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostQin also started selling dumplings after noticing how small Washington’s Chinatown was and wanting to share a taste of home with her community.
Homemade dumplings bring me closer to family this Lunar New Year, even from far away | Marian Liu | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostSince sheltering at home, I’ve been making dumplings more often, every two to three weeks, and freezing them.
Homemade dumplings bring me closer to family this Lunar New Year, even from far away | Marian Liu | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostI’m not sure I cut the dumpling dough correctly, but my weirdly sized and shaped dumplings worked for us.
The Best Recipes to Cook This Week, According to Eater Staffers Who Actually Cooked Them | Eater Staff | January 29, 2021 | EaterOffice workers and shoppers huddled against the January chill are wolfing down plates of katsu curry, noodles and spicy dumplings.
How China Could Change the World by Taking Meat Off the Menu | Charlie Campbell/Shanghai | January 22, 2021 | Time
Mamoru taunts Usagi by giving her the nickname “dumpling head.”
‘Sailor Moon’ Is an Oasis for Superheroes Who Can Save the Universe in Heels | Rich Goldstein | November 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFinally I believe this bunch isn't much smarter than the Apple dumpling Gang.
Restaurant Soup dumpling shops may be a dime a dozen, but these are the best of the best.
Before I kid anyone, I am not about to recommend street vendors or secret dumpling shops.
Savor the perfectly pitched ear required to turn a simple phrase like “a dumpling, some knurled pouch of gristle.”
Scattergood opened his eyes and peered over his dumpling cheeks at McKettrick, but said nothing.
Scattergood Baines | Clarence Budington KellandLippo, seriously looking at him, said quite reproachfully, "Now you don't even see that we have apple-dumpling."
Maezli | Johanna SpyriIt belongs as much to the cooking of a dumpling as it does to the belief in deity.
Theism or Atheism | Chapman CohenHis big fat face, shaped like a dumpling, wore a hard and ugly expression.
Tin-Types Taken in the Streets of New York | Lemuel Ely QuiggShe had a clean cloth on the table, a plentiful dinner provided, and a dumpling set before each boy.
Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents and Strange Events | S. Baring-Gould
British Dictionary definitions for dumpling
/ (ˈdʌmplɪŋ) /
a small ball of dough cooked and served with stew
a pudding consisting of a round pastry case filled with fruit: apple dumpling
informal a short plump person
Origin of dumpling
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse