a venison

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The meat of a deer, eaten as food.

   Grammar: Uncountable: use 'some venison' or 'a piece of venison'; 'a venison' alone sounds wrong.

   Patterns

   • cook venison
   • a venison steak
   • venison stew

   We had roast venison with red wine sauce at the restaurant.

   Venison is leaner than beef, so it dries out if you overcook it.

   He bought some venison from the farmer at the market.

2. 2nounbefore a noun

   Used before another noun to mean made of or containing deer meat.

   Grammar: Attributive use: it comes directly before the noun, as in 'venison sausage'.

   Patterns

   • a venison steak
   • venison sausages
   • a venison burger

   She ordered a venison burger instead of a beef one.

   These venison sausages come from a local farm.

Common combinations

roast venison

Roast venison is a traditional dish in many parts of Scotland.

a venison steak

He grilled a venison steak for dinner.

ground venison

Ground venison works well in chili.

venison stew

We made a rich venison stew for the cold weekend.

a cut of venison

This is an expensive cut of venison.

Synonyms and how they differ

deer meat

A plain everyday way to say it; 'venison' is the usual word on menus and in recipes.

game

A wider term for wild animals eaten as food, including venison, rabbit and pheasant; 'game' is not a synonym for venison alone.

Word family

venison noun

the meat itself; there is no common derived adjective in everyday use.

Commonly confused: a venison or venom? a venison or deer?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “a venison”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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