ˈpu̇diŋ, -dēŋ noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English; perhaps akin to Old English puduc wart, Low German puddek sausage, puddig swollen
1.
a. : blood sausage
b. obsolete : sausage stuffing for roast meat
that roasted … ox with the pudding in his belly — Shakespeare
c. dialect England : guts — usually used in plural
2.
a.
(1) : a boiled or baked unsweetened soft food usually having a cereal base and a texture resembling custard and eaten either as a main course or as a side dish
Virginia chicken pudding
corn pudding
— compare hasty pudding , yorkshire pudding
(2) : a usually boiled or baked sweetened dessert of a soft, spongy, or thick creamy consistency
bread pudding
rice pudding
chocolate pudding
b. : an unsweetened dish often containing suet or having a suet crust and originally boiled in a bag but now often steamed or baked
fig pudding
beefsteak and kidney pudding
— compare plum pudding
c. : something that resembles a pudding
pudding bolster
the low bogs … had been churned to chocolate-colored puddings of ancient peat — Farley Mowat
3.
a. : a tapered fender usually made of rope yarn or canvas and attached to the stern of a ship
the bow of your dinghy should be protected by a big, soft pudding — H.A.Calahan
b. : a soft padding especially a binding around a metal ring used to prevent parts of a ship's rigging from chafing
4.
a. : inherent quality : ability to measure up to expectations : adequacy , merit
proved his pudding commercially — Newsweek
the proof of the pudding is in the eating
b. : tangible support or profit
truth with gold she weighs, and solid pudding against empty praise — Alexander Pope