kebab

American  

[kuh-bob] / kəˈbɒb /

Also kebob, or kabob

noun

• kebabs
  plural

1. Usually kebabs small pieces of meat or seafood seasoned or marinated and broiled, often with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, or other vegetables, usually on a skewer.

2. (in Indian English use) roast meat.

3. Digital Technology. kebab menu.

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kebab British  

/ kəˈbæb /

noun

1. Also called: shish kebab, kabob, cabob. a dish consisting of small pieces of meat, tomatoes, onions, etc, threaded onto skewers and grilled, generally over charcoal

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• kebabs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of kebab

First recorded in 1665–75; from Arabic, from Hindi kabāb, from Turkish kebap “roast meat”

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Explanation

A kebab is a dish of vegetables, meat, or seafood cut into pieces, skewered, and cooked on a grill. On the first day of summer, your family might like to cook kebabs and have all the neighbors over. In the U.S., a kebab is generally understood to be a shish kebab — marinated cubes of meat alternating with chunks of onion, green pepper, or other veggies on a long skewer and cooked over a fire. English speakers outside of North America are more familiar with the doner kebab, a sandwich similar to a gyro or shawarma, with sliced meat served in a flatbread. The Arabic root word, kabāb, means "roasted meat."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kebab kebabs

In Playa de Palma, a 3-mile-long stretch of beach on the southern coast of the island, tourism workers speak fluent German and restaurants offer favorites like döner kebab and currywurst.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

“Wouldn’t it be a horror vision if we had to drink little glasses of Kölsch, or if döner kebab and pizza were on every corner of the festival grounds?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Those giant kebab sticks were then labelled to suggest they were made with between 50% to 90% lamb, depending on the recipe.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

The family-run Al-Mazaq not only serves top-tier dolmas and kebab, but also hand-stretched Iraqi bread.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

"We're heading to the Dar al-Islam masjid off Thirty-First. It's running the kebab kitchen tonight."

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

The diplomats from Big Ranch have spent the past few weeks traveling around the continent, slathering it on escargot, quiches, croque monsieurs, kebabs, fish and chips, pierogies and raclette—or ranchclette.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

STK’s thick, well-marbled filet mignon is perfect for kebabs with little more than salt and freshly cracked pepper.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

"When I was laid off... I was at a loss for a while," Zhang, 34, told AFP at the academy in Hunan province, handing a fistful of lightly charred kebabs to an instructor for review.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

Investigators raided the Kismet factory in Essex in May 2021 to find out what was in the kebabs, as takeaways thought they were buying lamb as advertised on the package.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Nothing worse than kebabs and caramel custard happened there now.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

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