Word
alaska
Phoneticsalas·ka
/əˈɫæskə/
Definitions
01U.S. state
n. the largest state in the USA, located in the far northwest of North America.
n. the 49th state of the United States, located in the extreme northwest of North America and separated from the contiguous U.S. by Canada.
“Many people visit Alaska in the summer to see the beautiful glaciers and bears.”
“Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 and eventually became the largest state in the Union, renowned for its vast wilderness and natural resources.”
02dessert
n. a short name for 'baked Alaska', a dessert made of cake and ice cream covered in toasted egg whites.
n. an elliptical form of 'baked Alaska', referring to a dessert consisting of ice cream and cake topped with browned meringue.
“For the final course of the dinner party, he served a spectacular Alaska.”
“The pastry chef demonstrated how to torch the meringue on the Alaska without melting the ice cream hidden inside.”
Informal
Usage
Usually appears as part of the full phrase 'baked Alaska' rather than standing alone.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Russian Аля́ска (Aljáska, “Alaska”), in turn from Aleut alaxsxaq (“a mainland”, literally “that toward which the action of the sea is directed”), composed of alag (“pertaining to the sea”) + -sxa (nominalizing suffix, yields 'the objective of action expressed by the root') + -q (nominalizing suffix). Commonly misattributed to Russian ала (ala) + -ский (-skij, adjectival suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/alaska