noun
pastrami
pa-STRAH-mee
noun
1
A heavily seasoned, smoked cut of beef, usually sliced thin for sandwiches.
"He ordered a pastrami sandwich piled high on rye bread."
How to Use Pastrami
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSpiced, smoked, thinly-sliced beef, famous in deli sandwiches like the classic New York pastrami on rye.
Common pairings
pastrami sandwich
pastrami on rye
Word Forms
pastramis plural
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “pastrami”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
He ordered a _____ sandwich piled high on rye bread.
Etymology
From Yiddish pastrame, tracing back through Romanian pastramă to Turkish pastırma, "pressed meat" — the English "-i" ending likely came from the influence of "salami."