Meaning & use
biscuit
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Meanings
nouncountableAmerican
In American English, a small, soft bread roll, often served warm with butter or gravy.
Grammar: Countable: 'a biscuit', 'two biscuits'.
Patterns
- a warm biscuit
- biscuits and gravy
- serve biscuits with butter
She baked a batch of biscuits for breakfast.
He ordered biscuits and gravy at the diner.
These biscuits are best eaten warm with butter.
nouncountableBritish
In British English, a small, thin, sweet or savory baked food, usually crisp; what Americans call a cookie or cracker.
Grammar: Countable: 'a biscuit', 'a packet of biscuits'.
Patterns
- a chocolate biscuit
- have a biscuit with tea
- a tin of biscuits
Would you like a biscuit with your tea?
She dunked her biscuit in the coffee.
He bought a packet of chocolate biscuits.
Word forms
| plural | biscuits |
|---|
Common combinations
- biscuits and gravy
- Biscuits and gravy is a classic Southern breakfast.
- a packet of biscuits
- He opened a packet of biscuits to share.
- chocolate biscuit
- She took a chocolate biscuit from the tin.
- warm biscuits
- The warm biscuits smelled wonderful.
- dunk a biscuit
- He likes to dunk a biscuit in his tea.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cookie
- American word for a sweet biscuit; use 'cookie' in the US and 'biscuit' in the UK for the same item.
- cracker
- A thin, crisp, savory biscuit, often eaten with cheese; not usually sweet.
- scone
- A British quick bread similar to an American biscuit but often sweeter and served with jam and cream.
- roll
- A small round bread, similar to an American biscuit but usually yeast-raised.
Word family
- biscuity adjective
- Having a texture or taste like a biscuit; informal.
Commonly confused: biscuit or cookie? biscuit or cracker?
biscuit vs cookie
In the US, a cookie is sweet and crisp or chewy; a biscuit is a soft, savory bread. In the UK, a biscuit is what Americans call a cookie.
biscuit vs cracker
A cracker is thin, dry, and usually savory; a British biscuit can be sweet or savory.
Practice
In British English, which sentence uses 'biscuit' correctly?
Choose one answer.
In British English, a biscuit is a small, crisp, sweet or savory baked item, often dipped in tea. The other options describe American biscuits, which are soft bread rolls.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “biscuit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.