| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
| to bark; yelp. |
taste (teɪst) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the sense by which the qualities and flavour of a substance are distinguished by the taste buds |
| 2. | the sensation experienced by means of the taste buds |
| 3. | the act of tasting |
| 4. | a small amount eaten, drunk, or tried on the tongue |
| 5. | a brief experience of something: a taste of the whip |
| 6. | a preference or liking for something; inclination: to have a taste for danger |
| 7. | the ability to make discerning judgments about aesthetic, artistic, and intellectual matters; discrimination: to have taste |
| 8. | judgment of aesthetic or social matters according to a generally accepted standard: bad taste |
| 9. | discretion; delicacy: that remark lacks taste |
| 10. | obsolete the act of testing |
| —vb (when intr, | |
| 11. | to distinguish the taste of (a substance) by means of the taste buds |
| 12. | (usually tr) to take a small amount of (a food, liquid, etc) into the mouth, esp in order to test the quality: to taste the wine |
| 13. | ( |
| 14. | to have an experience of (something): to taste success |
| 15. | (tr) an archaic word for enjoy |
| 16. | obsolete (tr) to test by touching |
| [C13: from Old French taster, ultimately from Latin taxāre to appraise] | |
| 'tastable | |
| —adj | |
"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-), 'astringent' (Gk. stryphnos, Skt. kasaya-), and, for the Greeks, 'rough, harsh' (austeros), 'oily, greasy' (liparos), with the occasional addition of 'winy' (oinodes)." [Buck]
"Of all the five senses, 'taste' is the one most closely associated with fine discrimination, hence the familiar secondary uses of words for 'taste, good taste' with reference to aesthetic appreciation." [Buck]
taste (tāst)
n.
The sense that distinguishes the sweet, sour, salty, and bitter qualities of dissolved substances in contact with the taste buds on the tongue.
This sense in combination with the senses of smell and touch, which together receive a sensation of a substance in the mouth.
The sensation of sweet, sour, salty, or bitter qualities produced by or as if by a substance placed in the mouth.
The unified sensation produced by any of these qualities plus a distinct smell and texture; flavor.
To distinguish the flavor of something by taking it into the mouth.
To eat or drink a small quantity of something.
To distinguish flavors in the mouth.
To have a distinct flavor.
taste definition
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taste
see acquired taste; dose (taste) of one's own medicine; leave a bad taste in one's mouth; no accounting for tastes; poor taste.