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REFERENCE

pretzel

n.
B1 Intermediate US //ˈpɹɛtzəɫ// UK //pɹˈɛtsəl// pret·zel Informal

n. a long, twisted bread shaped like a knot. It is usually baked in a salty water solution and has a chewy texture.

n. a type of bread made from wheat flour, water, and salt, typically shaped into a knot or twisted form and boiled before baking. The boiling process gives it a distinctive chewy texture and a characteristic dark brown colour.


SIMPLE

I bought a warm pretzel from the bakery.

CONTEXTUAL

The recipe for a traditional German pretzel requires the dough to be boiled in a salty solution before it is baked in a hot oven.

COMPLEX

While the dough is similar to that of a bagel, the pretzel's unique shape and the alkaline solution used during boiling create a distinctively crisp exterior and a dense, chewy interior.

Origin

From dialectal German Pretzel, a variant of standard Brezel, from Old High German brēzitella, from Vulgar Latin *brāchiātellus, diminutive of Latin brāchium, bracchium (“arm”); named for the appearance of folded arms.

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