gingerbread
[ jin-jer-bred ]
/ ˈdʒɪn dʒərˌbrɛd /
noun
a type of cake flavored with ginger and molasses.
a rolled cookie similarly flavored, often cut in fanciful shapes, and sometimes frosted.
elaborate, gaudy, or superfluous architectural ornamentation: a series of gables embellished with gingerbread.
adjective
heavily, gaudily, and superfluously ornamented: a gingerbread style of architecture.
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Nearby words
ginger jar, ginger lily, ginger nut, ginger up, ginger wine, gingerbread, gingerbread palm, gingerbread plum, gingerbread tree, gingerly, gingerroot
Origin of gingerbread
1250–1300; Middle English gingebreed (influenced by breed bread), variant of gingebrad, -brat ginger paste < Old French gingembras, -brat preserved ginger < Medieval Latin *gingi(m)brātum a medicinal preparation (neuter past participle), derivative of Latin gingiber ginger
Related forms
gin·ger·bread·y, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gingerbread
British Dictionary definitions for gingerbread
gingerbread
/ (ˈdʒɪndʒəˌbrɛd) /
noun
a moist brown cake, flavoured with ginger and treacle or syrup
- a rolled biscuit, similarly flavoured, cut into various shapes and sometimes covered with icing
- (as modifier)gingerbread man
- an elaborate but unsubstantial ornamentation
- (as modifier)gingerbread style of architecture
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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