Meaning & use
limburger
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Meaning
noununcountable
A soft, creamy cheese that develops a very strong, sharp smell as it ripens, first made in the Limburg area of Europe.
Grammar: Usually uncountable, like other cheese names: a slice of limburger.
Patterns
- a slice of limburger
- limburger on something
He ate a limburger sandwich with raw onion and dark bread.
The whole refrigerator smelled of limburger.
Limburger is an acquired taste that many people love.
Word forms
| plural | limburgers |
|---|
Common combinations
- limburger cheese
- Limburger cheese is often served with rye bread.
- limburger sandwich
- My grandfather loved a limburger sandwich for lunch.
- smell like limburger
- The gym bag smelled like limburger by the end of the week.
- ripe limburger
- A ripe limburger can fill a kitchen with its smell.
- smelly as limburger
- The old sneakers were as smelly as limburger.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stinking bishop
- Stinking Bishop is a particular strong-smelling English cheese, while limburger names a different, continental type.
- munster
- Munster is another soft, pungent washed-rind cheese, though its smell is generally milder than limburger's.
- smelly cheese
- Smelly cheese is a casual umbrella term for any strong cheese, whereas limburger names one specific variety.
Word family
- Limburg proper noun
- the region where the cheese originated, now split between Belgium and the Netherlands
- cheese noun
- a food made from pressed milk curds
Commonly confused: limburger or hamburger?
limburger vs hamburger
A hamburger is a cooked beef patty in a bun, and it has no connection to cheese beyond a slice on top. Limburger is the smelly cheese.
Practice
Why is limburger often used as a joke in cartoons?
Choose one answer.
Limburger is known for a powerful odor, which makes it a classic comic symbol for something smelly. It is not especially sweet, hard, or costly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “limburger”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.