hazelnut

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A small round nut with a hard brown shell and a sweet, rich kernel that grows on the hazel tree.

   Grammar: Countable for single nuts: three hazelnuts. Uncountable for the food in general: a bar with hazelnut.

   Patterns

   • a handful of hazelnuts
   • hazelnut in something

   She cracked a hazelnut between two stones and ate the sweet kernel.

   The baker added chopped hazelnut to the cookie dough.

   Squirrels gather hazelnuts in the autumn.

2. 2adjectivebefore a noun

   Flavored with hazelnuts, or having a light brown color like the nut.

   Grammar: Used before a noun: hazelnut coffee, hazelnut eyes.

   I ordered a hazelnut latte with extra foam.

   The cake had a creamy hazelnut filling.

   Her hazelnut hair shone in the sun.

Word forms

Common combinations

roasted hazelnuts

We sprinkled roasted hazelnuts on the salad.

hazelnut spread

He spread hazelnut spread on his toast.

chopped hazelnuts

Top the dessert with chopped hazelnuts.

hazelnut flavor

The ice cream has a strong hazelnut flavor.

hazelnut tree

A hazelnut tree grows beside the old barn.

Synonyms and how they differ

filbert

Filbert is an older or regional name for the same nut and is rarely used in everyday speech.

cobnut

Cobnut mainly refers to a cultivated hazelnut variety in Britain.

almond

Almond is a different nut, so it is not a true synonym and is sometimes substituted in recipes.

Word family

hazel noun

the tree that produces the nut, or a light brown-green color

hazel adjective

light brown with some green, used for eyes

nut noun

a hard-shelled seed that can be eaten

nutty adjective

tasting like nuts

Commonly confused: hazelnut or hazelnut vs peanut?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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