a delicate, frothy mixture made with beaten egg whites and sugar or hot syrup, and browned, used as a topping for pies, pastry, etc.
a pastry or pastry shell made by baking such a mixture, sometimes filled with fruit, whipped cream, etc.
stiffly beaten egg whites mixed with sugar and baked, often as a topping for pies, cakes, etc
a small cake or shell of this mixture, often filled with cream
1700–10; < French méringue; perhaps to be identified with dial. (Walloon) maringue shepherd's loaf, marinde food for an outdoor repast (< Latin merenda light afternoon meal, probably feminine gerund of merere to merit, such a meal being part of a laborer's wages), though certain evidence is lacking; association with the town of Meiringen (Bern canton, Switzerland) is solely by folk etymology
< French < Haitian Creole
Meringue is a very sweet dessert or dessert topping that's made out of egg whites and sugar. Meringue is so light and airy that it melts on your tongue. To make a meringue, you need to beat egg whites with sugar until they're thick and hold stiff peaks. After baking, a good meringue will be delicately crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside. You might like lemon meringue pie, or chocolate meringue cookies. The origin of the word meringue, aside from its birth as the French méringue, is unclear. Meringue was reportedly invented in eighteenth century Switzerland and perfected in Italy.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the menu, honey-glazed lime chicken, roast sea bass, caramelised leek penne and an outrageously moreish passion fruit meringue.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
The shindig included a three-tiered pink cake, pink cocktails garnished with meringue that looked like clouds and balloons galore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
At home, however, poaching islands of meringue has always felt like too much messy work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
And I hope I don’t trigger you when I say this: making meringue is not hard.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2025
Last night George had eaten two plates of roast beef, veal and ham pie, carrots sweet as candy, and a mysterious dessert called meringue pudding.
From "I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912" by Lauren Tarshis
A cottage pudding with a little shredded orange peel, nuts, or cocoanut in it, or with a chocolate, wine, or méringue sauce, will be an agreeable change from the plain pudding with hard sauce.
From The Century Cook Book by Ronald, Mary
Turn the cream out on an earthen dish and cover every part with the méringue.
From Miss Parloa's New Cook Book by Parloa, Maria
The méringue paste alluded to as used by foreign confectioners is made by beating the white of an egg with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar until stiff.
From Choice Cookery by Owen, Catherine
Currant Water-Ice.—A pint of currant juice, a pint of syrup, and the whites of three eggs made into méringue paste.
From Choice Cookery by Owen, Catherine
This technique keeps the unique cloud-like character of the meringues while allowing the team to make them in advance of service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
He heaped silver- and gold-rimmed porcelain serving platters with cookies, meringues, chocolates and nuts, and placed them below a tower of French macarons from Ladurée.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
She sells fresh fruit like mangos, mamoncillos and nances, as well as roasted cashews, brightly colored meringues and toys for children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2022
Beaten egg whites lend structure, texture and loft to a wide variety of dishes, including souffles, meringues, cakes and mousses.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 17, 2022
With the leftover egg whites, she fashions star-shaped meringues, which she serves with the ice cream day after day, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
