Meaning & use
Italian milkshake
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A thick, sweet blended drink made from gelato or ice cream and milk, often flavored with fruit, coffee, or chocolate.
Grammar: Countable: order an Italian milkshake, or two Italian milkshakes for the table.
Patterns
- an Italian milkshake with something
- order a Italian milkshake
We stopped at the gelato stand and each had an Italian milkshake.
Her Italian milkshake was so thick she ate it with a spoon.
The café lists an Italian milkshake with pistachio and almond on its summer menu.
nouncountableinformal
A dessert-style drink in which gelato is blended with a small amount of milk until it is spoonably thick.
Grammar: Same countable use; the emphasis here is on the dessert texture rather than the flavor.
Patterns
- a thick Italian milkshake
- serve something as an Italian milkshake
In Italy this kind of drink is usually called a frappé or a shake, but visitors call it an Italian milkshake.
If you blend it with less milk, you get a thick Italian milkshake you can eat with a spoon.
Word forms
| plural | Italian milkshakes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a thick Italian milkshake
- He ordered a thick Italian milkshake after the long walk.
- an Italian milkshake with gelato
- They make an Italian milkshake with gelato instead of ordinary ice cream.
- order an Italian milkshake
- We ordered an Italian milkshake to share at the beach.
- a pistachio Italian milkshake
- The pistachio Italian milkshake is the café's most popular item.
- blend an Italian milkshake
- Blend the Italian milkshake just until the gelato softens.
Synonyms and how they differ
- milkshake
- The general word; an Italian milkshake is specifically the thick gelato-based version.
- frappé
- A similar blended cold drink, but frappé often means a coffee or fruit drink and may not contain gelato.
- smoothie
- Also blended and thick, but smoothies are usually fruit-based and dairy-free, so they are not the same drink.
Commonly confused: Italian milkshake or gelato? Italian milkshake or milk shake?
Italian milkshake vs gelato
Gelato is the frozen dessert itself; an Italian milkshake is a drink made by blending gelato with milk.
Italian milkshake vs milk shake
Written as two words it can look like a verb phrase ('milk shake' as in shaking milk), so keep the single word 'milkshake' for the drink.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'Italian milkshake' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Italian milkshake' is a countable noun, so it fits after an article or determiner like 'a'. The other options try to use it as a verb, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Italian milkshake”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.