noun

gingerbread

JIHN-zhuh-brehd

noun

A firm, spiced cake or biscuit flavoured with ginger, often cut into festive shapes.

"The children decorated gingerbread men with icing and sweets."

"We baked a gingerbread house for the holidays."

Elaborate, fussy decoration on a building, especially ornate wooden trim from the Victorian era.

"The old seaside cottage was covered in white gingerbread trim."

How to Use Gingerbread

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe spiced holiday treat; also, less commonly, ornate decorative trim on old houses.

Common pairings

gingerbread man gingerbread house gingerbread trim

gingerbreaded past tense, gingerbreads plural, gingerbreads singular

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The children decorated _____ men with icing and sweets.

From an Old French word for preserved ginger; the ending later shifted to match the English word "bread" purely by coincidence of sound.

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