/ ˈpʊdɪŋ; NAmE / ( BrE informal pud ) noun [ U , C ]
1.
( BrE ) a sweet dish eaten at the end of a meal :
What's for pudding?
I haven't made a pudding today.
SYN afters , dessert , sweet
2.
( BrE ) a hot sweet dish, often like a cake, made from flour, fat and eggs with fruit, jam, etc. in or on it :
treacle pudding
bread and butter pudding (= made with bread, butter and milk)
—see also Christmas pudding , rice pudding , sponge pudding , summer pudding
3.
( BrE ) a hot dish like a pie with soft pastry made from flour, fat and eggs and usually filled with meat :
a steak and kidney pudding
4.
( especially NAmE ) a cold dessert (= a sweet dish) like cream flavoured with fruit, chocolate, etc. :
chocolate pudding
—see also black pudding , Yorkshire pudding
•
IDIOMS
see over-egg , proof
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (denoting a sausage such as black pudding ): apparently from Old French boudin black pudding, from Latin botellus sausage, small intestine.