Meaning & use
English muffin
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableAmerican
A small, round, flat yeast bread with a soft inside, usually split in half, toasted and eaten with butter or as part of a breakfast sandwich.
Grammar: Countable: an English muffin, two English muffins.
Patterns
- an English muffin with something
He had a toasted English muffin with butter and jam.
The breakfast sandwich came on an English muffin with egg and cheese.
Split the English muffin with a fork rather than a knife to keep it airy.
Word forms
| plural | English muffins |
|---|
Common combinations
- toasted English muffin
- A toasted English muffin is great with honey.
- split an English muffin
- Split an English muffin before putting it in the toaster.
- English muffin with butter
- She ordered an English muffin with butter and tea.
- English muffin sandwich
- The cafe sells an English muffin sandwich with egg and bacon.
- English muffin pizza
- The kids made English muffin pizzas for lunch.
Synonyms and how they differ
- muffin
- In British English a plain muffin often means the same flat bread, but in American English a muffin is a sweet cupcake-like cake, so the full term English muffin is clearer.
- bun
- Bun is a broader word for a small round bread, often sweeter or softer than an English muffin.
- crumpet
- A crumpet is a similar British griddle bread with holes on top, but it is moister and spongier.
Word family
- muffin noun
- a small cake or bread baked in a cup
- English breakfast noun
- a large traditional cooked morning meal
Commonly confused: English muffin or muffin?
English muffin vs muffin
An American muffin is a sweet cake baked in a cup, so it is quite different from an English muffin, which is a flat toasted bread.
Practice
Which would you most likely toast, split and spread with butter for breakfast in the US?
Choose one answer.
An English muffin is made to be split and toasted. A blueberry muffin is a sweet cake and is not normally split and toasted.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “English muffin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.