pudding

/ˈpʊdɪŋ/
/ˈpʊdɪŋ/
IPA guide

Other forms: puddings

Pudding is a sweet, creamy dessert that you eat with a spoon. The song “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” implores someone to “bring us some figgy pudding,” but chocolate or vanilla would be much easier to find.

Most pudding is made with milk, sugar, and flavoring with a thickening agent like cornstarch. Your favorite might be dark chocolate, butterscotch, or rice pudding. These are delicious, smooth, and usually served cold. In Britain, pudding simply means "dessert," but in North America pudding is a specific kind of after-dinner treat. Back in the 1300s, pudding had a different meaning: "a kind of sausage." You can still get that kind of blood pudding in England. If you must.

Definitions of pudding
  1. noun
    any of various soft sweet desserts thickened usually with flour and baked or boiled or steamed
    see moresee less
    types:
    show 13 types...
    hide 13 types...
    flummery
    a bland custard or pudding especially of oatmeal
    Christmas pudding, plum pudding
    a rich steamed or boiled pudding that resembles cake
    steamed pudding
    a pudding cooked by steaming
    duff, plum duff
    a stiff flour pudding steamed or boiled usually and containing e.g. currants and raisins and citron
    vanilla pudding
    sweet vanilla flavored custard-like pudding usually thickened with flour rather than eggs
    chocolate pudding
    sweet chocolate flavored custard-like pudding usually thickened with flour rather than eggs
    brown Betty
    baked pudding of apples and breadcrumbs
    Nesselrode, Nesselrode pudding
    a rich frozen pudding made of chopped chestnuts and maraschino cherries and candied fruits and liqueur or rum
    pease pudding
    a pudding made with strained split peas mixed with egg
    tapioca pudding
    sweet pudding thickened with tapioca
    roly-poly, roly-poly pudding
    pudding made of suet pastry spread with jam or fruit and rolled up and baked or steamed
    suet pudding
    a sweet or savory pudding made with suet and steamed or boiled
    spotted dick
    a suet pudding containing currants
    type of:
    afters, dessert, sweet
    a dish served as the last course of a meal
  2. noun
    (British) the dessert course of a meal (`pud' is used informally)
    synonyms: pud
    see moresee less
    types:
    trifle
    a cold pudding made of layers of sponge cake spread with fruit or jelly; may be decorated with nuts, cream, or chocolate
    tipsy cake
    a trifle soaked in wine and decorated with almonds and candied fruit
    type of:
    afters, dessert, sweet
    a dish served as the last course of a meal
  3. noun
    any of various soft thick unsweetened baked dishes
    “corn pudding”
    see moresee less
    types:
    carrot pudding
    pudding made with grated carrots
    corn pudding
    pudding made of corn and cream and egg
    type of:
    dish
    a particular item of prepared food
Pronunciation
US
/ˈpʊdɪŋ/
UK
/ˈpʊdɪŋ/
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘pudding'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family