sandwiches

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of sandwich.

   The deli prepares hundreds of sandwiches before the lunch rush.

   Cucumber and egg-salad sandwiches were served at the afternoon tea.

   Note

   The plural takes -es, as English nouns do after a -ch ending. It covers every noun meaning of the word: the lunchtime food, any layering of one material between two others, and in UK usage a layer cake. Its archaic use for sandwichmen, who wore sandwich boards, is rarely met today. The same spelling serves the present-tense verb, and a determiner such as these or the shows that it is the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of sandwich.

   The recipe sandwiches a layer of cream between two sponge cakes.

   The design sandwiches a thin layer of foam between two sheets of plywood.

   Note

   The form that goes with he, she or it, nearly always followed by an object and a between-phrase: she sandwiches a coffee break between two lectures. The pattern stretches from physical objects to time, so a schedule can sandwich an event between two others. A rare intransitive use simply means eating sandwiches. It is spelled exactly like the noun plural, and only its role in the sentence tells them apart.

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