# muffin

Pronunciation: say "MUF-in" /ˈmʌfɪn/

## Noun

1. A cupcake-shaped baked good, sometimes glazed but usually without frosting, eaten especially for breakfast rather than as a dessert.
   - Simple: A small, round baked good, often made with cornbread or banana bread, usually eaten for breakfast.
   - _He warmed a banana muffin and ate it with his coffee._
   - _These muffins are lightly glazed but have no frosting at all._
2. A flattish bread bun that people usually split horizontally and toast, then butter or top with something else before eating. *(British)*
   - Simple: A flat, round bread roll, cut in half, toasted, and spread with butter before you eat it.
   - _He split the muffin in two and toasted both halves over the fire._
   - _The cafe served warm muffins dripping with melted butter._
3. An affectionate name used for a person one loves or cares about. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A sweet name you call someone you love or care about.
   - _Don't worry, muffin, everything is going to be just fine._
   - _She embarrassed her boyfriend by calling him muffin in front of his friends._
4. Vulgar slang for the vulva or vagina, or the pubic hair around them. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A rude slang word for a woman's genitals.
   - _She slapped him after he grabbed at her muffin._
   - _The lyrics referred crudely to women's muffins throughout the song._
5. Any bread roll, such as a bap or cob, whether flat or not and whether toasted or not. *(dialectal, Northern England, UK)*
   - Simple: A small bread roll, which might be flat or round, and might be toasted.
   - _He ordered a chip muffin from the chippy down the road._
   - _The bakery's muffins were really just soft bread rolls._
6. In sports, a player of little skill, especially one prone to fumbling or dropping the ball. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A weak player on a team, especially one who keeps dropping the ball.
   - _The coach benched the muffin who kept dropping easy catches._
   - _Every team has a few muffins who never seem to improve._
7. In ice hockey, a feeble shot on which the puck moves only slowly. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A weak hockey shot where the puck moves slowly.
   - _The defenseman's muffin trickled harmlessly toward the goalie._
   - _Soft muffins like that rarely trouble a good netminder._
8. A charming and attractive young man.
   - Simple: A charming, good-looking young man.
   - _He was the kind of muffin who turned heads at every party._
   - _The bar was full of well-dressed muffins that evening._
15. In computing, a cookie-like mechanism in the Java Network Launching Protocol that lets a program running in a browser act on the user's computer.
   - Simple: A tool in a Java system, like a cookie, that lets a web program work on your computer.
   - _The applet wrote a muffin to remember the user's preferences._
   - _Developers relied on muffins much as web pages rely on cookies._

## Verb

9. To grow in size and become rounded, like a muffin.
   - Simple: To get bigger and rounder, like a muffin rising in the oven.
   - _The top of the loaf will muffin if the pan is too small._
   - _Flesh tends to muffin over the top of tight jeans._
10. To eat muffins, especially as a snack or a light meal.
   - Simple: To eat muffins.
   - _The friends muffined together every weekend without fail._
   - _He would muffin all morning if you let him._
11. To feed muffins to someone or something.
   - Simple: To give muffins to someone to eat.
   - _He muffined his guests until they couldn't eat another bite._
   - _They love to muffin every visitor who stops by._
12. To make or shape something so that it resembles a muffin.
   - Simple: To shape something so it looks like a muffin.
   - _She muffined the mixture by spooning it into a tray._
   - _The recipe shows how to muffin the cornbread into individual portions._
16. Alternative letter-case form of MUFFIN.
   - Simple: Alternative letter-case form of MUFFIN. It means the same word, just written with different capital letters.

## Noun

13. A young woman whose regular companion during a social season was a particular man. *(archaic, Canada)*
   - Simple: A young woman who often went out with the same man during a social season.
   - _Every evening that summer she played the muffin to the young lord._
   - _The gossips counted how many muffins the colonel had escorted._
14. A small plate, smaller than the size known as a twiffler. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A small plate, smaller than a side plate.
   - _He served the scones on a delicate muffin._
   - _The dinner service included plates, twifflers, and muffins._

## Origin

From the earlier form "moofin," probably a diminutive of Low German "Muffe" ("small cake"), from Middle Low German "muffe" ("small pastry"). Another, less phonologically likely theory links it to Old French "(pain) moflet" ("roll," literally "soft bread"), and the "vulva" sense was influenced by "muff."

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