/ teɪst; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
FLAVOUR
1.
[ C , U ] the particular quality that different foods and drinks have that allows you to recognize them when you put them in your mouth :
a salty / bitter / sweet, etc. taste
I don't like the taste of olives.
This dish has an unusual combination of tastes and textures.
The soup has very little taste.
SENSE
2.
[ U ] the sense you have that allows you to recognize different foods and drinks when you put them in your mouth :
I've lost my sense of taste.
SMALL QUANTITY
3.
[ C , usually sing. ] a small quantity of food or drink that you try in order to see what it is like :
Just have a taste of this cheese.
SHORT EXPERIENCE
4.
[ sing. ] a short experience of sth :
This was my first taste of live theatre.
Although we didn't know it, this incident was a taste of things to come .
ABILITY TO CHOOSE WELL
5.
[ U ] a person's ability to choose things that people recognize as being of good quality or appropriate :
He has very good taste in music.
They've got more money than taste.
The room was furnished with taste.
WHAT YOU LIKE
6.
[ C , U ] taste (for / in sth) what a person likes or prefers :
That trip gave me a taste for foreign travel.
She has very expensive tastes in clothes.
The colour and style is a matter of personal taste .
Modern art is not to everyone's taste .
There are trips to suit all tastes.
•
IDIOMS
- be in bad, poor, the worst possible, etc. taste
- be in good, the best possible, etc. taste
- leave a bad / nasty taste in the mouth
- to taste
—more at account verb , acquire , medicine
■ verb
(not used in the progressive tenses)
HAVE FLAVOUR
1.
linking verb taste (of sth) to have a particular flavour :
[ v - adj ]
It tastes sweet.
[ v ]
The ice tasted of mint.
This drink tastes like sherry.
2.
-tasting (in adjectives) having a particular flavour :
foul-tasting medicine
RECOGNIZE FLAVOUR
3.
[ vn ] (often used with can or could ) to be able to recognize flavours in food and drink :
You can taste the garlic in this stew.
TEST FLAVOUR
4.
[ vn ] to test the flavour of sth by eating or drinking a small amount of it
SYN try :
Taste it and see if you think there's enough salt in it.
EAT / DRINK
5.
[ vn ] to eat or drink food or liquid :
I've never tasted anything like it.
HAVE SHORT EXPERIENCE
6.
[ vn ] to have a short experience of sth, especially sth that you want more of :
He had tasted freedom only to lose it again.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (also in the sense touch ): from Old French tast (noun), taster (verb) touch, try, taste, perhaps based on a blend of Latin tangere to touch and gustare to taste.