flour
Americannoun
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the finely ground meal of grain, especially the finer meal separated by bolting.
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the finely ground and bolted meal of wheat, as that used in baking.
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any finely ground meal resembling this, as of nuts or legumes: chickpea flour.
almond flour;
chickpea flour.
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a finely ground, powdery foodstuff, as of dehydrated potatoes, fish, or bananas.
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a fine, soft powder.
flour of emery.
verb (used with object)
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to grind (grain or the like) into flour.
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to sprinkle or dredge with flour.
Flour the chicken before frying.
verb (used without object)
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(of mercury) to refuse to amalgamate with another metal because of some impurity of the metal; lie on the surface of the metal in the form of minute globules.
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to disintegrate into minute particles.
noun
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a powder, which may be either fine or coarse, prepared by sifting and grinding the meal of a grass, esp wheat
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any finely powdered substance
verb
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(tr) to make (grain) into flour
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(tr) to dredge or sprinkle (food or cooking utensils) with flour
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(of mercury) to break into fine particles on the surface of a metal rather than amalgamating, or to produce such an effect on (a metal). The effect is caused by impurities, esp sulphur
Other Word Forms
- flourless adjective
- floury adjective
- overflour verb
- unfloured adjective
Etymology
Origin of flour
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English flour, flur, flower, special use of flower (in the sense “finest part”); compare French fleur de farine “the flower, or finest part, of meal”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The meat is then coated in flour, eggs and breadcrumbs before it’s fried in oil.
From Salon
While the beans and potatoes were cooking, I figured that I’d make some flour gravy.
From Literature
Rupert shook the flour sack at the miller and then turned around and shook it at all the villagers.
From Literature
Glasses of helo-murr, a bittersweet drink made from corn flour, lined the table.
From Barron's
Everything became more expensive at the start of the year: meat, milk, salt, flour, potatoes, pasta, bananas, soap, toothpaste, socks, laundry detergent, and many medicines too.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
