Swiss cheese

American  

noun

• Swiss cheeses
  plural

1. a firm, pale-yellow cheese made originally in Switzerland, typically made from cow's milk and having many holes.

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Swiss cheese British  

noun

1. a hard white or pale yellow cheese with holes, such as Gruyère or Emmenthal

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Swiss cheeses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Swiss cheese

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Swiss cheese

Instead, it’s a double-decker sandwich with two deli meats, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing, all layered intricately between slices of thin rye bread.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

And in place of the sliced Swiss cheese he used to use, there’s a more labor-intensive Mornay sauce thick with Gruyère and premium dairy from California’s Straus Family Creamery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The Grand Canyon's largest springs are fed by karst systems, which Sankey compares to "Swiss cheese" because of the numerous holes, channels, and openings in the rock.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

"Things can and do go wrong, whether that is from renewables, fossil fuels or nuclear power. This could be the Swiss cheese model, where the holes in the system have happened to align."

From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2025

Desdemona asked her husband, holding up a letter that resembled Swiss cheese.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides