noun
tofu
TOH-foo
noun
1
A soft food made by pressing curdled soy milk into blocks, high in protein.
"She stir-fried tofu with vegetables for dinner."
2
A blank box or placeholder symbol shown by a computer when a character isn't supported by the available font.
"The document was full of tofu where the special symbols should have been."
How to Use Tofu
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA soy-based protein food common in vegetarian and Asian cooking; also computing slang for the empty box shown for missing characters.
Common pairings
firm tofu
silken tofu
fried tofu
Word Forms
tofus plural
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Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese tōfu, itself from Middle Chinese for "curdled bean."