biscuit

== English == === Etymology === From earlier bisket, from Middle English bisquyte, from Old French bescuit (French biscuit); doublet of biscotto. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbɪskᵻt/, Rhymes: -ɪskɪt (Indic) IPA(key): /bɪskʊʈ/, /bɪskeʈ/ (Philippines) IPA(key): /ˈbis.kwɪt/ Hyphenation: bis‧cuit === Noun === biscuit (countable and uncountable, plural biscuits) (UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, sometimes Canada, rare in the US and the Philippines) A small, flat, baked good which is either hard and crisp or else soft but firm; a cookie. (chiefly Canada, US, rare in Scotland and Guernsey) A small, usually soft and flaky bread, generally made with baking soda, which is similar in texture to a scone but which is usually not sweet. (UK, Ireland, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia) A cracker. (especially nautical) Any of several hard bread or breadlike foodstuffs, especially those formerly supplied to naval ships and armies, made with very little water, kneaded into flat cakes, and slowly baked, and which often became infested with weevils. Hyponyms: ship's biscuit, ship biscuit, ship bread, sea biscuit, sea bread, hardtack, soft tack Near-synonyms: tack, bread A form of unglazed earthenware. Synonyms: biscuitware, biscuitry A light brown colour. (woodworking) A thin oval wafer of wood or other material inserted into mating slots on pieces of material to be joined to provide gluing surface and strength in shear. Synonyms: dowel, finger joint, glue strip, spline (US, slang) A plastic card bearing the codes for authorizing a nuclear attack. (US, slang, hiphop) A handgun, especially a revolver. (ice hockey, shuffleboard) A puck (hockey puck). (slang) The head. (New Zealand) An inner tube used in the sport of tubing, or biscuiting. ==== Usage notes ==== In North America, a biscuit is a small, soft baked bread similar to a scone but not sweet. In some cases, it can be hard (see dog biscuit). In the United Kingdom, a biscuit is a small, crisp or firm, sweet baked good — the sort of thing which in North America is called a cookie. (Less frequently, British speakers refer to crackers as biscuits.) In North America, even small, layered baked sweets like Oreos are referred to as cookies, while in the UK, typically only those biscuits which have chocolate chips, nuts, fruit, or other things baked into them are also called cookies. Throughout the English-speaking world, thin, crispy, salty or savoury baked breads like in this image (saltine crackers) are called crackers, while thin, crispy, sweet baked goods like in this image (Nilla Wafers) and this image (wafer sticks) are wafers. Both the US and the UK distinguish crackers, wafers and cookies/biscuits from cakes: the former are generally hard or crisp and become soft when stale, while the latter is generally soft or moist and becomes hard when stale. ==== Quotations ==== For quotations using this term, see Citations:biscuit. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== ==== Translations ==== === See also === === Verb === biscuit (third-person singular simple present biscuits, present participle biscuiting, simple past and past participle biscuited) (transitive) To fire (pottery) in a kiln, without a ceramic glaze. (New Zealand, intransitive) To take part in the sport of tubing, riding down a river on an inner tube. == Dutch == === Etymology === Borrowed from French biscuit. Doublet of beschuit. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bɪsˈkʋi/ === Noun === biscuit n (plural biscuits, diminutive biscuitje n) biscuit (cookie) ==== Descendants ==== → Indonesian: biskuit === Further reading === biscuit on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia nl == French == === Etymology === Inherited from Middle French biscuit, from Old French bescuit, from Early Medieval Latin biscoctus (literally “twice-baked”). Doublet of biscotte and biscotto. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bis.kɥi/ === Noun === biscuit m (plural biscuits) biscuit (cookie) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== === Further reading === “biscuit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Italian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from French biscuit. Doublet of biscotto. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bisˈkwi/°, /bisˈkwi/* Rhymes: -i Hyphenation: bi‧scuìt === Noun === biscuit m (invariable) biscuit (white earthenware) wafer (for ice cream) === Anagrams === cubisti == Middle French == === Alternative forms === bescuit, bescuire, besquit === Etymology === Inherited from Old French bescuit, from Early Medieval Latin biscoctus (“twice baked”), from bis + coctus. === Noun === biscuit m (plural biscuits) biscuit ==== Descendants ==== French: biscuit (see there for further descendants) === References === biscuit on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French) == Portuguese == === Alternative forms === biscuí === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from French biscuit. Doublet of biscoito. === Pronunciation === Rhymes: -i Hyphenation: biscuit === Noun === biscuit m (uncountable) biscuit; biscuitware Synonym: porcelana fria === Further reading === “biscuit”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “biscuit”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026 “biscuit”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 “biscuit”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN == Romanian == === Alternative forms === biscot — dated biscuite — proscribed === Etymology === Borrowed from French biscuit. Doublet of pișcot, which came from Hungarian. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bis.kuˈit/ === Noun === biscuit m (plural biscuiți) biscuit, cookie biscuit (white earthenware) ==== Declension ==== === See also === fursec pișcot prăjitură === Further reading === “biscuit”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026