truffle

[ truhf-uhl, troo-fuhl ]

noun
  1. any of several subterranean, edible, ascomycetous fungi of the genus Tuber.

  2. any of various similar fungi of other genera.

  1. a candy made of soft chocolate, shaped into a ball and dusted with cocoa, or sometimes a three-layered cube of light and dark chocolate.

Origin of truffle

1
First recorded in 1585–95; from Dutch truffel(e), from Middle French truffle, truffe, from Old Provençal trufa, from Late Latin tūfer (unrecorded), tūfera, probably from an Osco-Umbrian cognate of Latin tūber tuber1

Other words from truffle

  • truffled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use truffle in a sentence

  • He really seemed, as Trendall once put it, to scent the presence of criminals as pigs scent truffles.

    The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le Queux
  • He threw back his head with an impulse of pride as he savoured the odour of truffles diffused through the suffocating atmosphere.

    The Nabob | Alphonse Daudet
  • Turn out and decorate the base with chopped aspic, truffles, parsley, and tomatoes.

    Dressed Game and Poultry la Mode | Harriet A. de Salis
  • Take a plain round mould, holding a pint and a half, butter it, and ornament with truffles cut in devices.

    Dressed Game and Poultry la Mode | Harriet A. de Salis
  • Truss the birds, and stuff them with chopped truffles and rasped bacon, seasoned with salt and pepper and a tiny dust of cayenne.

    Dressed Game and Poultry la Mode | Harriet A. de Salis

British Dictionary definitions for truffle

truffle

/ (ˈtrʌfəl) /


noun
  1. Also called: earthnut any of various edible saprotrophic ascomycetous subterranean fungi of the European genus Tuber . They have a tuberous appearance and are regarded as a delicacy

  2. Also called: rum truffle mainly British a sweet resembling this fungus in shape, flavoured with chocolate or rum

Origin of truffle

1
C16: from French truffe, from Old Provençal trufa, ultimately from Latin tūber

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012