pantry

American  

[pan-tree] / ˈpæn tri /

noun

• pantries
  plural

1. a room or closet in which food, groceries, and other provisions, or silverware, dishes, etc., are kept.

2. a room between the kitchen and dining room in which food is arranged for serving, glassware and dishes are stored, etc.

3. food pantry. a shelter or other place where food is dispensed to people experiencing food insecurity, either as groceries or as meals.

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pantry British  

/ ˈpæntrɪ /

noun

1. a small room or cupboard in which provisions, cooking utensils, etc, are kept; larder

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pantries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pantry

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English panetrie, from Anglo-French; Old French paneterie “bread room,” equivalent to panet(er) “to bake bread” (derivative of pan “bread,” from Latin pānis ) + -erie noun suffix; see -ery

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Explanation

A pantry is an area in or near a kitchen where food is stored. When you buy a hundred boxes of macaroni and cheese that are on sale, you'll need to make room in the pantry for them. Not every kitchen has a pantry, a dedicated space for storing food and other supplies. In some cases a pantry is a closet or cupboard with shelves, and sometimes a pantry is an entirely separate room adjacent to the kitchen. The Anglo-French source of pantry, panetrie, means "bread room," from the Medieval Latin panataria, "room of a servant in charge of food or bread." The Latin root, panis, means "bread."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pantry pantries

There is also a butler’s pantry for additional storage and preparation space, while an informal dining area provides a more relaxed alternative to the home’s formal entertaining spaces.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

Crates of tinned food sit in a pantry ready to be shipped off to local food banks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The pantry doubles as a control room while the backyard shed was turned into a venue for the musical guest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Volunteers at a community pantry say they fear they may have to close unless they can bring in additional donations of money and food.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

The pantry door stood wide open, giving the sight and smell of goodies on the shelves, and Black Susan came purring down the stairs from the attic, where she had been taking a nap.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Some officers are taking on second jobs or relying on donations, union officials say, and several major airports are collecting gift cards and stocking food pantries for TSA staff struggling without pay.

From Barron's ● Mar. 21, 2026

The region’s Catholic institutions responded to last year’s aggressive raids with an outpouring of charity, reorganizing many food pantries around grocery delivery and ministering directly to communities many described as under siege.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026

Primary schools hosting weekly food pantries as part of a council-supported scheme have said the provision puts "food on the table" for families.

From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026

On the ground level, this means community volunteer efforts like neighborhood environmental cleanups, helping food pantries distribute sustenance to families in need and volunteers assisting underfunded local libraries.

From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025

We skirted it, moving through pantries to a storage room right at the end of the known world.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

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Related Words

• cellar
• closet
• cupboard

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