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flummery - 3 dictionary results

flum⋅mer⋅y

  [fluhm-uh-ree]
Use flummery in a Sentence
–noun, plural -mer⋅ies.
1. oatmeal or flour boiled with water until thick.
2. fruit custard or blancmange usually thickened with cornstarch.
3. any of various dishes made of flour, milk, eggs, sugar, etc.
4. complete nonsense; foolish humbug.
Origin:
1615–25; < Welsh llymru, with ending assimilated to -ery
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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flum·mer·y   (flŭm'ə-rē)   
n.   pl. flum·mer·ies
  1. Meaningless or deceptive language; humbug.
    1. Any of several soft, sweet, bland foods, such as custard.
    2. A sweet gelatinous pudding made by straining boiled oatmeal or flour.
    3. A soft dessert of stewed, thickened fruit, often mixed with a grain such as rice.

[Welsh llymru, soft jelly from sour oatmeal.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Flummery

Flum"mer*y\, n. [W. llumru, or llumruwd, a kind of food made of oatmeal steeped in water until it has turned sour, fr. llumrig harsh, raw, crude, fr. llum sharp, severe.]

1. A light kind of food, formerly made of flour or meal; a sort of pap.

Milk and flummery are very fit for children. --Locke.

2. Something insipid, or not worth having; empty compliment; trash; unsubstantial talk of writing.

The flummery of modern criticism. --J. Morley.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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