sandwich
noun
two or more slices of bread with a layer of meat, fish, cheese, etc., between them.
sandwich
1 American
[sand-wich, san-]
/ ˈsænd wɪtʃ, ˈsæn- /
noun
-
sandwiches
plural
-
two or more slices of bread with a layer of meat, fish, cheese, etc., between them.
a tuna sandwich.
-
a partially slit bread roll, pita, etc., with a filling.
a falafel sandwich.
-
something resembling or suggesting a sandwich, as something in horizontal layers.
a plywood sandwich.
verb (used with object)
-
sandwiches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sandwiched,
past participle, past
-
sandwiching
present participle
-
to put into a sandwich.
-
to insert between two other things.
to sandwich a personal appointment between two business meetings.
Sandwich
2
American
[sand-wich, san-]
/ ˈsænd wɪtʃ, ˈsæn- /
noun
sandwich
British
/ ˈsænwɪdʒ, -wɪtʃ /
noun
-
two or more slices of bread, usually buttered, with a filling of meat, cheese, etc
-
anything that resembles a sandwich in arrangement
verb
-
to insert tightly between two other things
-
to put into a sandwich
-
to place between two dissimilar things
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sandwichsimple
-
sandwichessimple
-
have sandwichedperfect
-
has sandwichedperfect
-
am sandwichingprogressive
-
are sandwichingprogressive
-
is sandwichingprogressive
-
have been sandwichingperfect progressive
-
has been sandwichingperfect progressive
Past
-
sandwichedsimple
-
had sandwichedperfect
-
was sandwichingprogressive
-
were sandwichingprogressive
-
had been sandwichingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sandwich
First recorded in 1755–65; named after the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718–92)
Explanation
A sandwich is a meal in the form of two pieces of bread with meat, cheese, or some other filling between them. Your favorite lunch might be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When you put something between slices of bread, it's a sandwich. It's named for the Fourth Earl of Sandwich who's credited with inventing it. Sandwich is a verb too, that describes putting something between two other things, like sandwiching gym class between math and lunch. Sometimes sandwich involves being squeezed uncomfortably, like having to sandwich yourself between people on a crowded elevator or subway car.
Vocabulary lists containing sandwich
Commonly Misspelled Words, List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
In one sequence, Claude Bessy, a Paris Opera étoile, plays a model, wooed by her lover and eating a sandwich with the most royal disinterest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Burn the sandwich, toast it again; scrub every plate and punch out with pride.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
When asked how he'd be celebrating the achievement, Fender joked "I think I'm just gonna have a really big sandwich".
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Women and more health-conscious consumers were gravitating to a new chicken-salad sandwich.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Rio made an exasperated gesture toward Kat, who stood next to him eating an egg sandwich.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Sandwich would go on to reshape naval procurement and dockyards, and with his pursuit of modern ship design became critical to the 18th-century Royal Navy’s expansion into the world’s biggest industrial unit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Because it was never in doubt that Sandwich Guy threw the sandwich; he admitted it to law enforcement.
From Slate ● Nov. 7, 2025
The Countess of Sandwich gets to the crux of what she sees as the Duchess of Sussex's rebrand dilemma.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2025
Assemble the Sandwich: On a toasted slice of sourdough, pile the giardiniera chicken salad.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2025
“That is a metaphor. By ‘light,’ Sandwich means ‘life.’
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
McDonald's opposed that move, saying Big Mac has been registered as a trademark for meat sandwiches since December 1998.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Burger chains have been working to elevate their signature sandwiches, with both McDonald’s and Burger King staging overhauls in recent years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Mexican-inspired fast food can pack in more flavor than burgers and chicken sandwiches and offer more room for innovation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Crisp-head lettuces have their place — I love them on summer sandwiches destined to be eaten immediately — but given enough time, crunch becomes limpness.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
But the sandwiches were excellent, on thick fresh bread, and the view outside the car grew greener every minute.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Last year, there was one: Journalism, who sandwiched a win in the Preakness around runner-up finishes in the Derby and Belmont.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Per one Redditor, goat cheese and fig jam sandwiched between a date makes for an excellent sweet-savory snack.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
"Mining has destroyed our region," said Salle Kumar, a 34-year-old farmer who lives in a village sandwiched between two massive mines in Rajasthan.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
The capybaras’ stretch of the Pinheiros River is a former no-man’s land; geographically, it’s in the center of the city, and yet isolated, sandwiched between an expressway’s northbound and southbound lanes.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Their new home was a small frame house in a tiny hilltop neighborhood sandwiched between two white subdivisions on Montgomery’s northeast side.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
Job growth averaged 150,000 to 200,000 a month in the decade sandwiching the 2020-2021 pandemic.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
Our gulab jamun ice cream cakes have become a defining product for Malai: saffron syrup–soaked cardamom cakes sandwiching our rose with Cinnamon roasted Almonds Ice Cream .
From Salon ● May 31, 2025
Washington’s Moses Wood was doing much of it in the final minutes, sandwiching a long jumper between two three-pointers as the Huskies countered every Trojans basket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
I love many British pastries but became particularly and pleasantly obsessed with Dobes’ Bakewell tart — an almond frangipane topping and pastry base sandwiching a layer of raspberry jam.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
I lean close to the wall, the open door sandwiching me, touching my toes.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
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.
