Leavening - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: Leavening

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

leav·en·ing

Audio Help [lev-uh-ning] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Also called leavening agent. a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or batter; leaven.

2.	the act or process of causing to ferment by leaven.

3.	leaven (def. 3).

[Origin: 1600–10; leaven + -ing¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Leavening

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

leav·en Audio Help (lěv'ən) Pronunciation Key
n.

An agent, such as yeast, that causes batter or dough to rise, especially by fermentation.
An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole.

tr.v. leav·ened, leav·en·ing, leav·ens

To add a rising agent to.
To cause to rise, especially by fermentation.
To pervade with a lightening, enlivening, or modifying influence.

[Middle English, from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, from Latin levāre, to raise; see leg^wh- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

leav·en·ing Audio Help (lěv'ə-nĭng) Pronunciation Key
n. An agent that causes rising, fermentation, or ferment; leaven.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

leavening
noun
1.	an influence that works subtly to lighten or modify something; "his sermons benefited from a leavening of humor" [syn: leaven]
2.	a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquid [syn: leaven]