# pepper

/ˈpɛpɝ/ (US) · /pˈɛpɐ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/pepper
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. the spice

noun · CEFR A1

a black or white powder made from dried berries that gives food a spicy or sharp taste.

For teachers: a pungent spice prepared from the fermented, dried, unripe berries of the plant Piper nigrum. Uncountable when referring to the spice generally.

- He added a little salt and pepper to the soup to improve the flavour.
- Freshly cracked black pepper provides a much more robust aroma than the pre-ground variety found in most supermarket shakers.

### 2. the vegetable

noun · CEFR A1

a hollow green, red, or yellow vegetable that can be sweet or very hot.

For teachers: the fruit of the capsicum plant, ranging from mild bell peppers to intensely spicy chili varieties. Countable when referring to the whole fruit.

- She chopped up a red pepper and added it to the salad.
- The recipe calls for three large bell peppers, though you may substitute habaneros if you prefer a significantly higher heat profile.

### 3. to season food

verb · CEFR A2

to add pepper to food to give it more taste.

For teachers: to season or flavour food with ground pepper. Transitive; requires a direct object.

- The chef carefully peppered the steak before putting it on the grill.
- After the meat had been seared, the cook peppered it generously to create a spicy crust.

### 4. to hit repeatedly

verb · CEFR B2

to hit something many times with small objects like bullets or stones.

For teachers: to strike or shower someone or something repeatedly with small objects or missiles.

- Hail began to pepper the roof of the car during the storm.
- The retreating troops were peppered with small-arms fire as they attempted to cross the open field.

### 5. to scatter throughout

verb · CEFR C1 · Literary

to include many examples of something throughout a speech or piece of writing.

For teachers: to dot or sprinkle a surface or a body of work with something at frequent intervals.

- The author liked to pepper his stories with French words.
- The professor's lecture was peppered with dry jokes that only the most attentive students managed to catch.

### 6. computing security

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a secret value added to a password to make it harder for hackers to steal.

For teachers: a secret, randomly-generated value added to a password before hashing, stored separately from the database. Countable in technical contexts.

- The security system uses a unique pepper for every user account.
- Unlike a salt, which is stored alongside the hashed password, a pepper is typically kept in a secure hardware module to prevent mass decryption.

## Examples

- I always put salt and pepper on my eggs.
- The chef added a pinch of black pepper to the soup to give it a slightly spicy finish.
- While black pepper is a staple seasoning in Western kitchens, the bell pepper is prized for its crisp texture and high vitamin content in salads and stir-fries.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.