English Reference

Word

muffin

Phoneticsmuf·fin

US/ˈməfən/

UK/mˈʌfɪn/

Definitions

01sweet cake-like bread

A2 · Cooking

n. a small, sweet bread shaped like a cupcake, often containing fruit or chocolate.

n. a small, individual-sized quick bread, often sweetened and containing ingredients like blueberries or bran, typically baked in a cup-shaped tin.

“I grabbed a blueberry muffin and a coffee on my way to work.”

“The bakery specialises in oversized bran muffins that are surprisingly moist despite their high fibre content.”

Synonyms

quick breadbun

02flat toasted bread

B1 · Cooking

n. a flat, round bread roll that is usually cut in half and toasted.

n. a flat, circular, yeast-leavened bread, typically toasted and served with butter; often referred to as an 'English muffin' outside the UK.

“He toasted a muffin and spread it with plenty of butter and jam.”

“For a traditional breakfast, the chef served poached eggs on a toasted muffin with a side of hollandaise sauce.”

British English

Synonyms

English muffinbread roll

03term of endearment

B2

n. a sweet name you call someone you love, like a partner or a child.

n. a term of endearment used to address a loved one, typically a romantic partner or a small child.

“Don't worry about the mess, muffin, I'll help you clean it up.”

“While some find it cloying, he frequently uses 'muffin' as a pet name for his youngest daughter.”

Informal · Humorous

04computing mechanism

C2 · Computing

n. a technical tool in some computer programs that works like a 'cookie' to save information.

n. a mechanism in the Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) that functions similarly to a browser cookie, allowing local data persistence.

“The application uses a muffin to store the user's local preferences.”

“The developer implemented a muffin to ensure that the client-side state was preserved across different sessions of the web-start application.”

Technical

Synonyms

cookiedata store

Idioms

buff the muffin — To masturbate.

make muffins — Of a cat, to knead with the front paws.

stud muffin — A very attractive man.

Domain

Computing

This entry

Level
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

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