sherbet

American  

[shur-bit] / ˈʃɜr bɪt /

noun

1. Sometimes sherbert a frozen dessert made with sweetened fruit juice or purée, typically containing milk or cream, with egg white or gelatin often added.

2. a traditional Middle Eastern drink made of sweetened fruit juice diluted with water and ice.

3. Chiefly British. a sweetened powder moistened in the mouth and eaten as a fizzy confection or mixed with water to make a fizzy drink.

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sherbet British  

/ ˈʃɜːbət /

noun

1. a fruit-flavoured slightly effervescent powder, eaten as a sweet or used to make a drink

   lemon sherbet

2. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): sorbet.  a water ice made from fruit juice, egg whites, milk, etc

3. slang beer

4. a cooling Oriental drink of sweetened fruit juice

5. informal a euphemistic word for shit

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Etymology

Origin of sherbet

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Turkish şerbet, from Persian sharbat, from Arabic sharbah “a drink,” from shariba “to drink”

Example Sentences

Mandalay Beach, also known as Oxnard State Beach, has sherbet sunsets over its dunes.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2024

She collects the classic fresh linen and vanilla scents, along with the more exotic: names like pumpkin pecan waffles and clementine sherbet.

From Salon • Nov. 22, 2022

The meal begins with either veggie steamed dumplings or crispy spiced tofu and ends with dragon fruit and banana sherbet soft serve.

From Washington Post • Aug. 10, 2022

In the case of a certain brocade latticed with wildflowers, that idea was an unlikely color palette; Sabyasachi elevated sophisticated shades of sherbet — vintage lime, guava and banana — with raw silk.

From New York Times • Jun. 22, 2022

Lil looked at me like she was going to throw the rest of her raspberry sherbet in my face.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

Related Words

• frozen yogurt
• sorbet