# biscuit

Pronunciation: say "BIS-kit" /ˈbɪskɪt/

## Noun

1. A small, soft and flaky bread, generally made with baking soda, similar in texture to a scone but usually not sweet. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A soft, flaky bread roll, usually not sweet, made with baking soda.
   - _A flaky buttermilk biscuit pairs perfectly with fried chicken._
   - _The diner served eggs, grits, and hot biscuits every morning._
2. A small, flat baked good that is either hard and crisp or else soft but firm, equivalent to the American cookie. *(Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, UK)*
   - Simple: A small, flat baked treat that is either hard and crisp or soft but firm.
   - _Nothing beats a buttery shortbread biscuit with afternoon coffee._
   - _She arranged the biscuits on a plate for the guests._
3. A thin, crisp, usually savory cracker. *(Ireland, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, UK)*
   - Simple: A thin, crisp, savory cracker.
   - _She served pâté on a single oat biscuit._
   - _The cheeseboard came with a selection of dry biscuits._
4. A light brown color, resembling that of a baked biscuit.
   - Simple: A pale, light brown color, like that of a baked roll.
   - _The designer paired cream curtains with biscuit upholstery._
   - _Painters mixed a touch of ochre to reach the perfect biscuit._
5. A hard, dry bread or breadlike food, especially the kind once supplied to ships and armies, made with very little water and baked slowly to keep for long voyages.
   - Simple: A very hard, dry bread once given to sailors and soldiers, baked to last a long time.
   - _The purser issued each man a daily ration of ship's biscuit._
   - _Stale biscuits, riddled with weevils, were all that remained in the hold._
6. Unglazed earthenware that has been fired in a kiln, left porous and matte.
   - Simple: Pottery that has been baked but not yet coated with a shiny glaze.
   - _The studio stacked fresh biscuit beside the glaze buckets._
   - _He tapped the biscuit to check that the clay had fully hardened._
7. A thin oval wafer of wood or similar material set into matching slots in two pieces being joined, adding gluing surface and strength in shear.
   - Simple: A small, flat oval piece of wood pushed into slots to help glue two parts together.
   - _A well-placed biscuit keeps the mating edges flush during glue-up._
   - _He cut slots along both boards before inserting the biscuits._
9. The head of a person, in slang use. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person's head, in casual slang.
   - _The boxer caught a sharp jab to the biscuit._
   - _He banged his biscuit on the cupboard door._
10. A pistol, most often a revolver. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A handgun, especially a revolver.
   - _He pulled a biscuit and the room went silent._
   - _She stashed the biscuit under the driver's seat._
11. The hard rubber disk that ice hockey players shoot toward the goal; a puck.
   - Simple: A hard rubber disk used in the game of ice hockey.
   - _He one-timed the biscuit before the defense could react._
   - _The goalie smothered the biscuit against the boards._
12. A plastic card printed with the authorization codes required to order a nuclear attack. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A plastic card that holds the secret codes for launching a nuclear attack.
   - _Reports claimed an aide once misplaced the biscuit for several months._
   - _An officer briefed the new president on safeguarding the biscuit._
13. An inflatable inner tube ridden across the water in the sport of tubing. *(New Zealand)*
   - Simple: A round, blown-up tube that people ride on while being pulled across the water.
   - _He held tight to the biscuit as it skipped over the wake._
   - _The teenagers dragged the biscuit down to the lake at dawn._

## Verb

8. To fire pottery in a kiln without a ceramic glaze, hardening the clay before any glaze coat is applied.
   - Simple: To bake clay pottery in a kiln before adding any glaze.
   - _Most studios biscuit their work before applying any glaze._
   - _She biscuited the mugs overnight in the small kiln._
14. To float down a river on an inner tube as a recreational sport. *(New Zealand)*
   - Simple: To ride down a river on a floating inner tube for fun.
   - _Every summer they biscuit along the slow stretch below the bridge._
   - _We biscuited for hours until the current finally slowed._

## Origin

The word comes from earlier "bisket," from Middle English "bisquyte," from Old French "bescuit" (modern French "biscuit"); it is a doublet of "biscotto."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/biscuit (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).