flour

[ flouuhr, flou-er ]
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noun
  1. the finely ground meal of grain, especially the finer meal separated by bolting.

  2. the finely ground and bolted meal of wheat, as that used in baking.

  1. any finely ground meal resembling this, as of nuts or legumes: almond flour;chickpea flour.

  2. a finely ground, powdery foodstuff, as of dehydrated potatoes, fish, or bananas.

  3. a fine, soft powder: flour of emery.

verb (used with object)
  1. to grind (grain or the like) into flour.

  2. to sprinkle or dredge with flour: Flour the chicken before frying.

verb (used without object)
  1. (of mercury) to refuse to amalgamate with another metal because of some impurity of the metal; lie on the surface of the metal in the form of minute globules.

  2. to disintegrate into minute particles.

Origin of flour

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English flour, flur, flower, special use of flower (in the sense “finest part”); compare French fleur de farine “the flower, or finest part, of meal”

Other words from flour

  • flour·less, adjective
  • o·ver·flour, verb
  • un·floured, adjective

Words that may be confused with flour

Words Nearby flour

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use flour in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for flour

flour

/ (ˈflaʊə) /


noun
  1. a powder, which may be either fine or coarse, prepared by sifting and grinding the meal of a grass, esp wheat

  2. any finely powdered substance

verb
  1. (tr) to make (grain) into flour

  2. (tr) to dredge or sprinkle (food or cooking utensils) with flour

  1. (of mercury) to break into fine particles on the surface of a metal rather than amalgamating, or to produce such an effect on (a metal). The effect is caused by impurities, esp sulphur

Origin of flour

1
C13 flur finer portion of meal, flower

Derived forms of flour

  • floury, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012