lard
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to apply lard or grease to.
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to prepare or enrich (lean meat, chicken, etc.) with pork or fat, especially with lardons.
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to supplement or enrich with something for improvement or ornamentation.
a literary work larded with mythological allusions.
noun
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the rendered fat from a pig, esp from the abdomen, used in cooking
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informal excess fat on a person's body
verb
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to prepare (lean meat, poultry, etc) by inserting small strips of bacon or fat before cooking
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to cover or smear (foods) with lard
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to add extra material to (speech or writing); embellish
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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lardsimple
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lardssimple
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have lardedperfect
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has lardedperfect
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am lardingprogressive
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are lardingprogressive
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is lardingprogressive
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have been lardingperfect progressive
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has been lardingperfect progressive
Past
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lardedsimple
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had lardedperfect
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was lardingprogressive
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were lardingprogressive
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had been lardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lard
1300–50; Middle English (v.), late Middle English (noun) < Middle French larder (v.), lard (noun) < Latin lār ( i ) dum bacon fat; akin to Greek lārīnós fat (adj.)
Explanation
Lard is rendered animal fat that's used for cooking. Although many bakers use butter or vegetable shortening in their pie crust, others swear by the rich flavor of lard. Lard is a white fat that comes from pigs. In some places, it's not uncommon to spread lard on bread instead of butter, and many cooks appreciate its ability to get extremely hot without burning and its savory flavor. Lard is also commonly used as a verb to mean "fill with unnecessary details," the way a student might lard an essay with impressive vocabulary words to disguise the fact that it was hastily written right before class.
Vocabulary lists containing lard
Save Me a Seat
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A Culinary Vocabulary Sampler
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The Odyssey
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In many cases, those diets derived 60% of calories from lard, which does not accurately reflect typical human eating habits and makes it difficult to determine the effects of individual fatty acids.
From Science Daily • Jun. 2, 2026
"We just put lard on them and it takes off. I'm laughing, but it's how it is," he told AFP during a visit of the company factory.
From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026
It is the job of the sports columnist to be ridiculous, to lard on sweaty superlatives and routinely declare the regrettable, but once in a while, we get it right.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025
The best refried beans in town are probably being made a few blocks away from you, by someone who knows exactly how much lard, salt and time it takes to get the texture right.
From Salon • Aug. 5, 2025
The guns arrived in narrow tin boxes and were packed in Cosmoline, a brownish substance the consistency of lard that had to be stripped away.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
