choco ‧ late S2 /ˈtʃɒklət, ˈtʃɒklɪt $ ˈtʃɑːk ə lət, ˈtʃɒːk-/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Spanish ; Origin: Nahuatl xocoatl ]
1 . [uncountable] a sweet brown food that you can eat as a sweet or use in cooking to give foods such as cakes a special sweet taste:
a chocolate bar
a chocolate cake
a packet of chocolate biscuits
I prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate.
2 . [countable] a small sweet that is covered with chocolate:
Would you like a chocolate?
a box of chocolates
3 . [uncountable and countable] a hot sweet drink made with milk and chocolate, or a cup of this drink:
a mug of hot chocolate
Two coffees and one chocolate, please.
4 . [uncountable] a dark brown colour
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ types of chocolate
▪ milk chocolate (=chocolate with milk added to it)
ice-cream inside a milk chocolate coating
▪ dark chocolate ( also plain chocolate British English ) (=without milk and with very little sugar)
strawberries dipped in dark chocolate
▪ white chocolate (=white in colour, with a sweet milky taste)
Serve the cake with a white chocolate sauce.
▪ bitter chocolate (=dark chocolate with a strong sharp taste)
Bitter chocolate may be added to meat sauces for extra flavour.
▪ cooking chocolate (=chocolate to use in cooking)
Melt the cooking chocolate and spread it over the tray.
▪ melted chocolate
Stir in the eggs and the melted chocolate.
■ phrases
▪ a bar of chocolate (=a long block of chocolate)
He bought a Coke and a bar of chocolate.
▪ a piece/bit of chocolate
Would you like a piece of chocolate?
▪ a box of chocolates (=a box of small sweets covered with chocolate)
I gave Mum a box of chocolates for her birthday.
▪ a slab of chocolate (=a large flat piece)
They shared a large slab of chocolate.
▪ a square of chocolate (=a small square piece)
I only ate one small square of chocolate.
■ chocolate + NOUN
▪ a chocolate cake/biscuit/pudding etc
For her birthday he made a chocolate cake.
▪ chocolate chips (=very small pieces of chocolate)
vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips
▪ a chocolate factory
My dream job would be working in a chocolate factory.