filling

The word “filling” means the material used to fill a cavity in a tooth, or the substance itself. In plain terms, what goes inside something (a tooth, pie, or sandwich) — or, as an adjective, food that leaves you satisfyingly full.

“Filling” is pronounced FIH-lihng ([ˈfɪɫɪŋ] in IPA).

Here is “filling” used in a sentence: “The dentist gave her a filling after finding a small cavity.”

Depending on how it is used, “filling” can be a noun and an adjective.

“Filling” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Filling” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the material used to fill a cavity in a tooth, or the substance itself.

In cooking, "filling" and "stuffing" both refer to a mixture placed inside food, and the words often overlap. "Filling" is the general term for the contents inside a pie, sandwich, cake, or pastry, while "stuffing" usually refers specifically to a seasoned mixture packed inside meat or poultry.

In dentistry, a cavity is the hole or area of decay in a tooth, while a filling is the material used to repair it. The dentist removes the decay to create space, then places a filling to restore the tooth's shape and function.

It depends on the meaning. When it refers to a tooth repair, "filling" is countable, as in "I need three fillings." When it refers to the contents of food, it is often used uncountably, as in "there was too much filling," though you can also say "a sweet filling."