yeast
[yeest]
- any of various small, single-celled fungi of the phylum Ascomycota that reproduce by fission or budding, the daughter cells often remaining attached, and that are capable of fermenting carbohydrates into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- any of several yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces, used in brewing alcoholic beverages, as a leaven in baking breads, and in pharmacology as a source of vitamins and proteins.Compare bottom yeast, brewer's yeast, top yeast.
- spume; foam.
- ferment; agitation.
- something that causes ferment or agitation.
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- to ferment.
- to be covered with froth.
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Origin of yeast
before 1000; Middle English ye(e)st (noun), Old English gist, gyst; cognate with Dutch gist, German Gischt yeast, foam, Old Norse jastr yeast, Greek zestós boiled, Sanskrit yásati (it) boils
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for yeast
Contemporary Examples
The malted barley, yeast, and water are cooked, fermented, and distilled exactly the same.
How Much Do Whisky Casks Really Affect Taste?December 10, 2014
During fermentation after about 15 percent alcohol, yeast starts producing histamines.
Another cure is Kvass, a slightly alcoholic beverage made by soaking dried rye bread with sugar and yeast.
To make the dough, combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
That mat is actually a culture: in technical terms, a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.
Historical Examples
Let it stand till it becomes only milk-warm, and then stir in the yeast.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
If you use fruit, put in half a wine glass more of the yeast.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
If the yeast is stirred in while the liquor is too warm, it will be likely to turn sour.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Then mix it smoothly with the yeast, and stir it into the household flour.
The Skilful CookMary Harrison
Make the milk tepid, and mix smoothly with the German yeast.
The Skilful CookMary Harrison
yeast
- any of various single-celled ascomycetous fungi of the genus Saccharomyces and related genera, which reproduce by budding and are able to ferment sugars: a rich source of vitamins of the B complex
- any yeastlike fungus, esp of the genus Candida, which can cause thrush in areas infected with it
- a commercial preparation containing yeast cells and inert material such as meal, used in raising dough for bread or for fermenting beer, whisky, etcSee also brewer's yeast
- a preparation containing yeast cells, used to treat diseases caused by vitamin B deficiency
- froth or foam, esp on beer
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- (intr) to froth or foam
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Word Origin
Old English giest; related to Old Norse jostr, Old High German jesan, Swedish esa, Norwegian asa, Sanskrit yasati
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for yeast
n.
Old English gist "yeast," common West Germanic (cf. Middle High German gest, German Gischt "foam, froth," Old High German jesan, German gären "to ferment"), from PIE *jes- "boil, foam, froth" (cf. Sanskrit yasyati "boils, seethes," Greek zein "to boil," Welsh ias "seething, foaming").
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
yeast
(yēst)- Any of various unicellular fungi of the genus Saccharomyces, especially S. cerevisiae, reproducing by budding and from ascospores and capable of fermenting carbohydrates.
- Any of various similar fungi.
- A commercial preparation in either powdered or compressed form containing yeast cells and inert material and used especially as a leavening agent or as a dietary supplement.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
yeast
[yēst]
- Any of various one-celled fungi that reproduce by budding and can cause the fermentation of carbohydrates, producing carbon dioxide and ethanol. There are some 600 known species of yeast, though they do not form a natural phylogenic group. Most yeasts are ascomycetes, but there are also yeast species among the basidiomycetes and zygomycetes. The budding processes in yeasts show a wide range of variations. In many yeasts, for example, the buds break away as diploid cells. Other yeasts reproduce asexually only after meiosis, and their haploid buds act as gametes that can combine to form a diploid cell, which functions as an ascus and undergoes meiosis to produce haploid spores. Still other yeasts form buds in both haploid and diploid phases. The ascomycete yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used in baking to produce the carbon dioxide that leavens dough and batter. It has been the subject of extensive research in cell biology, and its genome was the first to be sequenced among eukaryotes. A variety of yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces are used in making beer and wine to provide alcohol content and flavor. Certain other yeasts, such as Candida albicans, are pathogenic in humans.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.