butterhead

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A type of lettuce with a loose, round head of soft, tender, buttery-tasting leaves.

   Grammar: Countable for a head, uncountable as a food: two butterheads; butterhead in a salad.

   Patterns

   • a head of butterhead

   I bought a butterhead and a cucumber for dinner.

   Butterhead leaves are soft enough to wrap around a filling.

   She grows butterhead in a pot on the balcony.

2. 2nouncountableinformalold-fashioneddisapproving

   A foolish or clumsy person, used mainly in a mild, old-fashioned way.

   Grammar: A mild insult for a person: don't be such a butterhead.

   Oh, you butterhead, you left the keys in the door again!

   My gran called me a butterhead when I dropped the eggs.

   He felt like a butterhead after mixing up the dates.

Word forms

Common combinations

butterhead lettuce

A butterhead lettuce makes a delicate salad.

a head of butterhead

I washed a head of butterhead for the sandwiches.

tender butterhead leaves

Tender butterhead leaves wilt quickly.

grow butterhead

They grow butterhead in the greenhouse.

butterhead salad

A simple butterhead salad needs only oil and lemon.

Synonyms and how they differ

Boston lettuce

Is the common American name for the same soft-leaved type.

Bibb lettuce

Is a smaller, more tender kind of butterhead.

romaine

Has long, crisp, upright leaves, unlike butterhead's soft rounded ones.

iceberg

Has a tight, crunchy head, the opposite of butterhead's softness.

Commonly confused: butterhead or buttercrunch?

Practice

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