hamburger

[ham-bur-ger]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hamburger ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground or chopped beef, usually in a roll or bun, variously garnished.

ground or chopped beef.

Also called Hamburg steak. a patty of ground or chopped beef, seasoned and fried or broiled.

Also ham·burg

[ham-burg] /ˈhæm bɜrg/.

Origin of hamburger

1885–90; short for Hamburger steak; see -er¹

Also called beefburger.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hamburger

burger, beefburger, cheeseburger

Examples from the Web for hamburger

Contemporary Examples of hamburger

As chefs set their sights upon upgrading the hamburger, an agreed-upon definition of the classic version was needed.
Have We Reached ‘Peak Burger’? The Crazy Fetishization of Our Most Basic Comfort Food
Brandon Presser
July 31, 2014
In El Reno, when you order a hamburger, an onion-fried burger is assumed, unless you instruct the cook to leave the onions out.
The Most American Pit Stop in the U.S.A.
Jane & Michael Stern
July 21, 2014
The cheese is arranged so that only about one-quarter of each slice rests atop the hamburger.
The Real Cheeseburger Paradise
Jane & Michael Stern
June 22, 2014
The girls ignored him and then ducked into a hamburger shop.
Why People Throw Shoes in Afghanistan
Ron Moreau & Sami Yousafzai
August 18, 2013
“Maybe if my name was hamburger, the picture would have been different,” he joked.
Lies Anthony Weiner Told Me
Patricia Murphy
July 31, 2013

Historical Examples of hamburger

Better stay and have some Hamburger and onions, advised Anthony, with a smile.
Weatherby's Inning
Ralph Henry Barbour
Not for her the impenetrable mysteries of a hamburger and onions.
Roast Beef, Medium
Edna Ferber
We have left the Englishmen behind us, and now have caught up with the Hamburger.
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Jules Verne
The Breton was all passion and melancholy; the Hamburger all fancy and satire.
Amiel's Journal
Henri-Frdric Amiel
Hamburger steak and pork liver often contain more manure germs than the fresh droppings of animals.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting
Northern Nut Growers Association

British Dictionary definitions for hamburger

hamburger

hamburg

noun

a flat fried cake of minced beef, often served in a bread rollAlso called: Hamburger steak, beefburger

Word Origin for hamburger

C20: shortened from Hamburger steak (that is, steak in the fashion of Hamburg)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hamburger

1610s, "native of Hamburg;" the meat product so called from 1884, hamburg steak, named for the German city of Hamburg, though no certain connection has ever been put forth, and there may not be one unless it be that Hamburg was a major port of departure for German immigrants to United States. Meaning "a sandwich consisting of a bun and a patty of grilled hamburger meat" attested by 1912. Shortened form burger attested from 1939; beefburger was attempted 1940, in an attempt to make the main ingredient more explicit, after the -burger had taken on a life of its own as a suffix (cf. cheeseburger, first attested 1938).