# pudding

Pronunciation: say "PUUD-ing" /ˈpʊd.ɪŋ/

## Noun

1. A sweet dessert with a texture similar to custard or mousse, but thickened with starch rather than eggs alone.
   - Simple: A sweet, soft dessert with a texture like custard, thickened using starch.
   - _The diner served a creamy butterscotch pudding in a tall glass._
   - _He whisked the milk and cornstarch until the pudding began to set._
2. A cake or dessert, usually cooked by boiling or steaming rather than baking.
   - Simple: A sweet cake or dessert that is cooked by boiling or steaming.
   - _The Christmas pudding had been steaming on the stove for hours._
   - _She turned the warm sponge pudding out onto a plate and poured custard over it._
3. The dessert course of a meal; the sweet dish eaten after the main course. *(Australia, New Zealand, UK)*
   - Simple: The sweet course at the end of a meal.
   - _In many British homes, pudding follows the roast on a Sunday afternoon._
   - _The waiter asked whether we wanted pudding or coffee to finish._
4. A sweet or savory dish made from batter or cooked by boiling or steaming.
   - Simple: Any dish, sweet or not sweet, made by boiling, steaming, or from batter.
   - _In old English kitchens, a pudding might hold minced meat, suet, and spices wrapped in cloth._
   - _A batter pudding rises and crisps at the edges as it bakes._
5. A kind of sausage whose main ingredient is blood.
   - Simple: A sausage made mostly from blood.
   - _The butcher's pudding was made by simmering pig's blood with oatmeal and packing it into casings._
   - _Sliced thick and fried in the pan, the breakfast pudding tasted of blood and spice._
6. An affectionate name used for someone dear, such as a child or a partner.
   - Simple: A loving name you call someone you care about.
   - _"You did so well today, pudding," she told her daughter._
   - _He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Sleep tight, pudding."_
7. A slang term for a fat or overweight person, usually used mockingly. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang name for someone who is overweight.
   - _The other kids teased the new boy, calling him a pudding behind his back._
   - _She bristled at being called a pudding just for enjoying her meals._
8. A slang term for the entrails or internal organs of an animal. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for the guts of an animal.
   - _The butcher tossed the pudding into a bucket as he dressed the carcass._
   - _Hunters traditionally removed the pudding soon after the kill to keep the meat fresh._

## Noun

9. A piece of good fortune or a stroke of luck. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: An old slang word for a lucky break or piece of good luck.
   - _The unexpected inheritance was a pudding that changed his fortunes overnight._
   - _Landing the contract without competition struck them as a remarkable pudding._
10. Food or provisions of any sort; anything edible. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word for food of any kind.

## Origin

First recorded around 1305, it comes from Middle English 'podynge' or 'puddynge' meaning a kind of sausage or meat-filled animal stomach, from Old French 'boudin' (blood sausage), from Latin 'botellus' (sausage, small intestine); it is a doublet of 'boudin'. An alternative account traces it instead to a Proto-Germanic root '*put-, *pud-' meaning 'to swell'.

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