Meaning & use
bologna
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Meanings
noununcountableAmerican
A mild, smooth, pink sausage made from finely ground, seasoned meat and usually sold in round slices for sandwiches.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means the food: some bologna, a slice of bologna.
Patterns
- a slice of bologna
- a bologna sandwich
He packed a bologna sandwich and an apple for lunch.
She fried a slice of bologna until the edges curled.
The deli sells bologna by the pound.
noununcountableinformalAmerican
Nonsense or foolish talk; more often spelled baloney.
Grammar: Uncountable and used as a mild exclamation or comment: That's a lot of bologna!
Patterns
- a load of bologna
- that's bologna
Don't believe that ad; it's pure bologna.
His excuse was a load of bologna, and everyone knew it.
Common combinations
- bologna sandwich
- The kids asked for a bologna sandwich with mustard.
- slice of bologna
- He laid a slice of bologna on the bread.
- fried bologna
- Fried bologna was a common breakfast on the farm.
- pack of bologna
- I bought a pack of bologna and some cheese.
- a load of bologna
- Her story about the dog eating the homework was a load of bologna.
Synonyms and how they differ
- baloney
- Baloney is the more common spelling for the 'nonsense' sense, and it can also name the sausage.
- mortadella
- Mortadella is the Italian sausage that bologna is loosely based on, but it is richer and often contains fat cubes and pistachios.
- cold cut
- Cold cut is a general name for sliced cooked meats, whereas bologna is one particular kind.
- nonsense
- Nonsense is the standard, neutral word, while bologna is a casual and slightly humorous way to say it.
Word family
Commonly confused: bologna or Bologna?
bologna vs Bologna
The Italian city is pronounced /bəˈlɒnjə/ or similar, while the sausage is said /bəˈloʊni/ in American English.
Practice
His claim that he had met the president was complete ______, and nobody believed him.
Choose one answer.
Bologna is informal for nonsense, which fits a claim nobody believed. A bonanza, a bargain and a blessing are all good things and cannot describe a false claim.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bologna”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.