doughnut
- 01 A2 Elementary
n.a small, sweet cake that is fried in oil and often shaped like a ring or filled with jam.
n.a small cake of leavened dough, deep-fried and typically either ring-shaped or spherical and filled with jam, cream, or custard.
Simple“We bought a dozen fresh doughnuts from the bakery for the office party.”
In context“The artisanal bakery specialises in sourdough doughnuts glazed with seasonal fruits and topped with crushed pistachios.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a person who has done something silly or stupid.
n.a mild, often affectionate term of abuse for a foolish or clumsy person.
Simple“I forgot my keys again; I'm such a doughnut.”
In context“He felt like a complete doughnut after realising he had been arguing against his own proposal for the last ten minutes.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
n.any object that is shaped like a ring or a circle with a hole in the middle.
n.an object or geometric figure possessing a toroidal shape.
Simple“The doctor gave him a foam doughnut to sit on to help with his back pain.”
In context“The particle accelerator uses a series of magnets arranged in a massive doughnut to keep the beams on track.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the act of driving a car in a tight circle so the tyres leave marks on the road.
n.a manoeuvre performed while driving a vehicle, involving rotating the rear of the car around the front wheels to create a circular skid mark.
Simple“The police arrived after some teenagers started doing doughnuts in the empty car park.”
In context“The stunt driver executed a perfect series of doughnuts, leaving thick plumes of white smoke and charred rubber patterns on the asphalt.”
- 05 C2 Proficiency
n.a musical note that looks like a hollow circle.
n.a colloquial term for a semibreve or whole note, referencing its hollow, circular appearance on a musical staff.
Simple“The teacher told the kids to hold the doughnut for four full beats.”
In context“In the simplified notation used for the beginners' workshop, the instructor referred to the semibreves as doughnuts to help the younger students identify them.”
Synonymssemibrevewhole note - 06 C2 Proficiency
v.to form a circle around something.
v.to surround or encircle an object or area.
Simple“The small village was doughnuted by a ring of ancient oak trees.”
In context“The new housing development effectively doughnuted the historic town centre, cutting it off from the surrounding countryside.”
From dough + nut, 1809 because originally small, nut-sized balls of fried dough, or, more likely, from nut in the earlier sense of "small rounded cake or cookie", with the toroidal shape becoming common in the twentieth century. First attested in Knickerbocker’s History of New York, by Washington Irving, 1809.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.