biltong

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Dried, seasoned meat, originally from South Africa, usually eaten as a snack.

   Grammar: Uncountable when talking about the food in general: I like biltong. It can be countable when referring to types or pieces: a piece of biltong, several biltongs.

   Patterns

   • a piece of biltong
   • make biltong
   • eat biltong

   On the long drive across the country, we snacked on biltong and dried fruit.

   My South African friend brought some homemade biltong to the party, and it disappeared quickly.

   The butcher sells beef biltong and also a version made from ostrich.

2. 2nouncountable

   A single strip or piece of this dried meat.

   Grammar: Countable when you mean one piece: He bought two biltongs for the trip.

   Patterns

   • a biltong
   • two biltongs

   She packed a few biltongs in her bag for the hike.

   He cut a biltong into small pieces and shared them with the children.

Word forms

Common combinations

beef biltong

Beef biltong is the most common type, but you can also find game biltong.

homemade biltong

Homemade biltong often tastes better than the store-bought kind.

a piece of biltong

He offered me a piece of biltong before dinner.

biltong and droëwors

The shop sells biltong and droëwors, two popular South African snacks.

Synonyms and how they differ

jerky

Jerky is similar dried meat, but it is usually smoked or heated and is more common in North America; biltong is air-dried and cured with vinegar and spices.

dried meat

Dried meat is a general term that includes biltong, jerky, and other types; use biltong when you mean the South African style specifically.

Commonly confused: biltong or billtong?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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