entrée

American  

[ahn-trey] / ˈɑn treɪ /

Or entree

noun

1. a dish served as the main course of a meal.

2. Older Use. a dish served at dinner between the principal courses.

3. the privilege of entering; access.

   Synonyms:

   entry, admission

4. a means of obtaining entry.

   His friendship with an actor's son was his entrée into the theatrical world.

   Synonyms:

   entry, admission

5. the act of entering; entrance.

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entrée British  

/ ˈɒntreɪ /

noun

1. a dish served before a main course

2. the main course of a meal

3. the power or right of entry

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Etymology

Origin of entrée

1775–85; < French, noun use of feminine past participle of entrer to enter; entry

Example Sentences

“The Ipcress File” was Deighton’s entree to a jet-setting, swinging ’60s.

From The Wall Street Journal

Take the entrée into one reader email he received: “Dunno if you are real or AI, but here goes.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Customers can choose from more than 25 meal combinations—each including an entree, side and drink—at a national average price of $8 or less.

From The Wall Street Journal

There’s little swashing or buckling in “The Count of Monte Cristo,” whose charms, so to speak, lie in Edmond’s escape via Faria’s burial sack, his securing of the vast treasure to which the Abbé provided a map, and Edmond’s parlaying that fortune into a title, a Paris mansion and entrée into the highest level of society.

From The Wall Street Journal

Customers make qualifying entree purchases to earn reward points, collect badges, and increase their chances in a lottery draw to win the grand prize—one free entree per week for a year and a $100 gift card.

From Barron's

Related Words

• admission