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bun

n. countable
A2 Elementary US //ˈbən// UK //bˈʌn// bun Archaic Dialect Informal Slang

n. a small, soft piece of bread, usually round and without a crust. You often eat it with a sandwich or burger.

n. a small, soft roll of bread, typically round and crustless, used as a base for sandwiches or burgers.


SIMPLE

I bought a fresh bun for my lunch.

CONTEXTUAL

She split the warm bun and filled it with ham and cheese.

COMPLEX

The bakery's signature sourdough bun, with its crisp exterior and airy crumb, became the preferred vessel for the city's most popular gourmet burgers.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English bunne (“wheat cake, bun”), from Anglo-Norman bugne (“bump on the head; fritter”), from Old French bugne (hence French beignet), from Frankish bungjo (“little clump”), diminutive of bungu (“lump, clump”), from Proto-Germanic bungô, bunkô (“clump, lump, heap, crowd”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick, dense, fat”). Cognate with Dutch bonk (“clump, clot, cluster of fruits”). More at bunch.

Etymology 2

Probably from Scots bun (“tail of a rabbit or hare”), which is probably from Scottish Gaelic bun (“bottom, butt, stump, stub”).

Etymology 3

Caribbean pronunciation of burn.

Etymology 4

From the Revised Romanization of Korean 분 (bun), from Chinese 分 (fèn, “fen”). Doublet of fen.

Idioms2 entries

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