Meaning & use
lettuce
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A vegetable with large green leaves, usually eaten raw in salads or sandwiches.
Grammar: Can be countable when referring to a whole head: buy a lettuce. Uncountable when talking about the food in general: add some lettuce.
Patterns
- a head of lettuce
- lettuce leaves
- eat lettuce
Wash the lettuce thoroughly before making the salad.
He added a crisp lettuce leaf to his sandwich.
We bought two lettuces at the market.
nouncountable
A particular variety of this plant, such as romaine or iceberg.
Grammar: Often used with a modifier: romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce.
Patterns
- romaine lettuce
- iceberg lettuce
Romaine lettuce is common in Caesar salads.
Iceberg lettuce stays crunchy for days.
Word forms
| plural | lettuces |
|---|
Common combinations
- head of lettuce
- She bought a head of lettuce for the salad.
- lettuce leaf
- A lettuce leaf made the burger look fresher.
- crisp lettuce
- The crisp lettuce added a nice crunch.
- shredded lettuce
- The tacos were topped with shredded lettuce.
- lettuce in a salad
- There was too much lettuce in the salad.
Synonyms and how they differ
- salad greens
- A broader term for various leafy vegetables eaten in salads, not just lettuce.
Word family
- lettucey adjective
- Informal, describing something that tastes or looks like lettuce.
Commonly confused: lettuce or cabbage?
lettuce vs cabbage
Cabbage is a different vegetable with tighter, thicker leaves and is often cooked, while lettuce is leafier and usually eaten raw.
Practice
I need to buy ______ for the salad.
Choose one answer.
'Lettuce' is uncountable when talking about the food in general, so 'some lettuce' or just 'lettuce' is correct. 'A lettuce' would mean one whole head, which is not the intended meaning here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lettuce”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.