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taste
12 dictionary results for: taste
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
taste       [teyst] Pronunciation Key verb, tast·ed, tast·ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1.to try or test the flavor or quality of (something) by taking some into the mouth: to taste food.
2.to eat or drink a little of: She barely tasted her dinner.
3.to eat or drink (often used in negative constructions): He hadn't tasted food for three days.
4.to perceive or distinguish the flavor of: to taste the wine in a sauce.
5.to have or get experience, esp. a slight experience: these young men who had only begun to taste life.
6.to perceive in any way.
7.Archaic. to enjoy or appreciate.
8.Obsolete.
a.to examine by touch; feel.
b.to test or try.
–verb (used without object)
9.to try the flavor or quality of something.
10.to eat or drink a little (usually fol. by of): She tasted of the cake.
11.to perceive or distinguish the flavor of anything.
12.to have experience of something, however limited or slight.
13.to have a particular flavor (often fol. by of): The coffee tastes bitter. The bread tastes of mold.
14.to smack or savor (usually fol. by of): The story tastes of treason.
–noun
15.the act of tasting food or drink.
16.the sense by which the flavor or savor of things is perceived when they are brought into contact with the tongue.
17.the sensation or quality as perceived by this sense; flavor.
18.a small quantity tasted; a morsel, bit, or sip.
19.a relish, liking, or partiality for something: a taste for music.
20.the sense of what is fitting, harmonious, or beautiful; the perception and enjoyment of what constitutes excellence in the fine arts, literature, fashion, etc.
21.the sense of what is seemly, polite, tactful, etc., to say or do in a given social situation.
22.one's personal attitude or reaction toward an aesthetic phenomenon or social situation, regarded as either good or bad.
23.the ideas of aesthetic excellence or of aesthetically valid forms prevailing in a culture or personal to an individual: a sample of Victorian taste; I consulted only my own taste in decorating this room.
24.the formal idiom preferred by a certain artist or culture; style; manner: a façade in the Baroque taste.
25.a slight experience or a sample of something: a taste of adventure.
26.a feeling or sensation resulting from an experience: a compromise that left a bad taste in her mouth.
27.Obsolete. test or trial.
28.taste blood. blood (def. 24).
29.to one's taste, agreeable or pleasing to one: He couldn't find any ties that were completely to his taste.

[Origin: 1250–1300; (v.) ME tasten to touch, taste < OF taster to touch, explore by touching (MF: to touch, taste); c. It tastare, Pr, OSp tastar < ?; (n.) ME tast sense of touch, a trying, tasting < OF, deriv. of taster]

tast·a·ble, taste·a·ble, adjective

1. savor. 17. Taste, flavor, savor refer to a quality that is perceived when a substance is placed upon the tongue. Taste is the general word: the taste of roast beef. Flavor is a characteristic taste, usually of a pleasing kind, and as of some ingredient put into the food: lemon flavor. Savor, much less common than taste or flavor, implies pleasing scent as well as taste or flavor, and connotes enjoyment in tasting: The sauce has an excellent savor. 19. fondness, disposition, appreciation, predisposition. 20. discernment, perception, judgment.
19. antipathy.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
taste       (tāst)  Pronunciation Key 
v.   tast·ed, tast·ing, tastes

v.   tr.
  1. To distinguish the flavor of by taking into the mouth.
  2. To eat or drink a small quantity of.
  3. To partake of, especially for the first time; experience.
  4. To perceive as if by the sense of taste.
  5. Archaic To appreciate or enjoy.

v.   intr.
  1. To distinguish flavors in the mouth.
  2. To have a distinct flavor: The stew tastes salty.
  3. To eat or drink a small amount.
  4. To have experience or enjoyment; partake: tasted of the life of the very rich.

n.  
    1. The sense that distinguishes the sweet, sour, salty, and bitter qualities of dissolved substances in contact with the taste buds on the tongue.
    2. This sense in combination with the senses of smell and touch, which together receive a sensation of a substance in the mouth.
    3. The sensation of sweet, sour, salty, or bitter qualities produced by or as if by a substance placed in the mouth.
    4. The unified sensation produced by any of these qualities plus a distinct smell and texture; flavor.
    5. A distinctive perception as if by the sense of taste: an experience that left a bad taste in my mouth.
    6. The faculty of discerning what is aesthetically excellent or appropriate.
    7. A manner indicative of the quality of such discernment: a room furnished with superb taste.
    8. The sense of what is proper, seemly, or least likely to give offense in a given social situation.
    9. A manner indicative of the quality of this sense.
    1. The sensation of sweet, sour, salty, or bitter qualities produced by or as if by a substance placed in the mouth.
    2. The unified sensation produced by any of these qualities plus a distinct smell and texture; flavor.
    3. A distinctive perception as if by the sense of taste: an experience that left a bad taste in my mouth.
    4. The faculty of discerning what is aesthetically excellent or appropriate.
    5. A manner indicative of the quality of such discernment: a room furnished with superb taste.
    6. The sense of what is proper, seemly, or least likely to give offense in a given social situation.
    7. A manner indicative of the quality of this sense.
  1. The act of tasting.
  2. A small quantity eaten or tasted.
  3. A limited or first experience; a sample: "Thousands entered the war, got just a taste of it, and then stepped out" (Mark Twain).
  4. A personal preference or liking: a taste for adventure.
    1. The faculty of discerning what is aesthetically excellent or appropriate.
    2. A manner indicative of the quality of such discernment: a room furnished with superb taste.
    3. The sense of what is proper, seemly, or least likely to give offense in a given social situation.
    4. A manner indicative of the quality of this sense.
    1. The sense of what is proper, seemly, or least likely to give offense in a given social situation.
    2. A manner indicative of the quality of this sense.
  5. Obsolete The act of testing; trial.


[Middle English tasten, to touch, taste, from Old French taster, from Vulgar Latin *tastāre, probably alteration of Latin *taxāre, probably frequentative of tangere, to touch; see tag- in Indo-European roots.]

tast'a·ble adj.
Synonyms: These nouns denote a quality that can be perceived by the taste buds on the tongue: the salty taste of anchovies; the pungent flavor of garlic; the zesty relish of the salsa; the savor of rich chocolate; the fresh tang of lemonade.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
taste  (v.)
c.1290, "to touch, to handle," from O.Fr. taster "to taste" (13c.), earlier "to feel, touch" (12c.), from V.L. *tastare, apparently an alteration of taxtare, a frequentative form of L. taxare "evaluate, handle" (see tax). Meaning "to take a little food or drink" is from c.1300; that of "to perceive by sense of taste" is recorded from 1340. Of substances, "to have a certain taste or flavor," it is attested from 1552 (replaced native smack (n.1) in this sense). Tasty is recorded from 1617; in late 18c. it also could mean "tasteful, elegant" (from the secondary sense of taste (n.)). For another PIE root in this sense, see gusto.
"The Hindus recognized six principal varieties of taste with sixty-three possible mixtures ... the Greeks eight .... These included the four that are now regarded as fundamental, namely 'sweet,' 'bitter,' 'acid,' 'salt.' ... The others were 'pungent' (Gk. drimys, Skt. katuka-

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
taste  (n.)
c.1300, "act of tasting," from O.Fr. tast (Fr. tât), from taster (see taste (v.)). Meaning "faculty or sense by which flavor of a thing is discerned" is attested from c.1380. Meaning "savor, sapidity, flavor" is from 1382. Sense of "aesthetic judgment" is first attested 1671 (cf. Fr. goût, Ger. geschmack, Rus. vkus, etc.). Tasteful in this sense is from 1756.
"Of all the five sense

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
taste

noun
1. the sensation that results when taste buds in the tongue and throat convey information about the chemical composition of a soluble stimulus; "the candy left him with a bad taste"; "the melon had a delicious taste" 
2. a strong liking; "my own preference is for good literature"; "the Irish have a penchant for blarney" [syn: preference
3. delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values); "arrogance and lack of taste contributed to his rapid success"; "to ask at that particular time was the ultimate in bad taste" 
4. a brief experience of something; "he got a taste of life on the wild side"; "she enjoyed her brief taste of independence" 
5. a small amount eaten or drunk; "take a taste--you'll like it" 
6. the faculty of distinguishing sweet, sour, bitter, and salty properties in the mouth; "his cold deprived him of his sense of taste" 
7. a kind of sensing; distinguishing substances by means of the taste buds; "a wine tasting" 

verb
1. have flavor; taste of something 
2. perceive by the sense of taste; "Can you taste the garlic?" 
3. take a sample of; "Try these new crackers"; "Sample the regional dishes" [syn: sample
4. have a distinctive or characteristic taste; "This tastes of nutmeg" [syn: smack
5. distinguish flavors; "We tasted wines last night" 
6. experience briefly; "The ex-slave tasted freedom shortly before she died" 

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

taste (tāst)
n.

  1. The sense that distinguishes the sweet, sour, salty, and bitter qualities of dissolved substances in contact with the taste buds on the tongue.
  2. This sense in combination with the senses of smell and touch, which together receive a sensation of a substance in the mouth.
  3. The sensation of sweet, sour, salty, or bitter qualities produced by or as if by a substance placed in the mouth.
  4. The unified sensation produced by any of these qualities plus a distinct smell and texture; flavor.
v. tast·ed, tast·ing, tastes
  1. To distinguish the flavor of something by taking it into the mouth.
  2. To eat or drink a small quantity of something.
  3. To distinguish flavors in the mouth.
  4. To have a distinct flavor.

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

taste
1. (primarily MIT) The quality of a program that tends to be inversely proportional to the number of features, hacks, and kluges it contains. Taste refers to sound judgment on the part of the creator. See also elegant, flavour.
2. Alternative spelling of "tayste".
[The Jargon File]

Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

taste

[primarily MIT] n.
1. The quality in a program that tends to be inversely proportional to the number of features, hacks, and kluges programmed into it. Also `tasty', `tasteful', `tastefulness'. "This feature comes in N tasty flavors." Although `tasty' and `flavorful' are essentially synonyms, `taste' and flavor are not. Taste refers to sound judgment on the part of the creator; a program or feature can _exhibit_ taste but cannot _have_ taste. On the other hand, a feature can have flavor. Also, flavor has the additional meaning of `kind' or `variety' not shared by `taste'. The marked sense of flavor is more popular than `taste', though both are widely used. See also elegant.
2. Alt. sp. of tayste.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Taste

Taste\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Tasting.] [OE. tasten to feel, to taste, OF. taster, F. tater to feel, to try by the touch, to try, to taste, (assumed) LL. taxitare, fr. L. taxare to touch sharply, to estimate. See Tax, v. t.]

1. To try by the touch; to handle; as, to taste a bow. [Obs.] --Chapman.

Taste it well and stone thou shalt it find. --Chaucer.

2. To try by the touch of the tongue; to perceive the relish or flavor of (anything) by taking a small quantity into a mouth. Also used figuratively.

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine. --John ii. 9.

When Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse. --Gibbon.

3. To try by eating a little; to eat a small quantity of.

I tasted a little of this honey. --1 Sam. xiv. 29.

4. To become acquainted with by actual trial; to essay; to experience; to undergo.

He . . . should taste death for every man. --Heb. ii. 9.

5. To partake of; to participate in; -- usually with an implied sense of relish or pleasure.

Thou . . . wilt taste No pleasure, though in pleasure, solitary. --Milton.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Taste

Taste\, v. i. 1. To try food with the mouth; to eat or drink a little only; to try the flavor of anything; as, to taste of each kind of wine.

2. To have a smack; to excite a particular sensation, by which the specific quality or flavor is distinguished; to have a particular quality or character; as, this water tastes brackish; the milk tastes of garlic.

Yea, every idle, nice, and wanton reason Shall to the king taste of this action. --Shak.

3. To take sparingly.

For age but tastes of pleasures, youth devours. --Dryden.

4. To have perception, experience, or enjoyment; to partake; as, to taste of nature's bounty. --Waller.

The valiant never taste of death but once. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Taste

Taste\, n. 1. The act of tasting; gustation.

2. A particular sensation excited by the application of a substance to the tongue; the quality or savor of any substance as perceived by means of the tongue; flavor; as, the taste of an orange or an apple; a bitter taste; an acid taste; a sweet taste.

3. (Physiol.) The one of the five senses by which certain properties of bodies (called their taste, savor, flavor) are ascertained by contact with the organs of taste.

Note: Taste depends mainly on the contact of soluble matter with the terminal organs (connected with branches of the glossopharyngeal and other nerves) in the papill[ae] on the surface of the tongue. The base of the tongue is considered most sensitive to bitter substances, the point to sweet and acid substances.

4. Intellectual relish; liking; fondness; -- formerly with of, now with for; as, he had no taste for study.

I have no taste Of popular applause. --Dryden.

5. The power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence, particularly in the fine arts and belles-letters; critical judgment; discernment.

6. Manner, with respect to what is pleasing, refined, or in accordance with good usage; style; as, music composed in good taste; an epitaph in bad taste.

7. Essay; trial; experience; experiment. --Shak.

8. A small portion given as a specimen; a little piece tastted of eaten; a bit. --Bacon.

9. A kind of narrow and thin silk ribbon.

Syn: Savor; relish; flavor; sensibility; gout.

Usage: Taste, Sensibility, Judgment. Some consider taste as a mere sensibility, and others as a simple exercise of judgment; but a union of both is requisite to the existence of anything which deserves the name. An original sense of the beautiful is just as necessary to [ae]sthetic judgments, as a sense of right and wrong to the formation of any just conclusions or moral subjects. But this "sense of the beautiful" is not an arbitrary principle. It is under the guidance of reason; it grows in delicacy and correctness with the progress of the individual and of society at large; it has its laws, which are seated in the nature of man; and it is in the development of these laws that we find the true "standard of taste."

What, then, is taste, but those internal powers, Active and strong, and feelingly alive To each fine impulse? a discerning sense Of decent and sublime, with quick disgust From things deformed, or disarranged, or gross In species? This, nor gems, nor stores of gold, Nor purple state, nor culture, can bestow, But God alone, when first his active hand Imprints the secret bias of the soul. --Akenside.

Taste of buds, or Taste of goblets (Anat.), the flask-shaped end organs of taste in the epithelium of the tongue. They are made up of modified epithelial cells arranged somewhat like leaves in a bud.

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