Meaning & use
marshmallow
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A soft, light sweet that is usually white and shaped like a small cylinder, made from sugar, water, and gelatin.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a marshmallow or marshmallows for individual pieces.
Patterns
- a marshmallow
- marshmallows
- toast a marshmallow
She dropped a marshmallow into her hot chocolate and watched it melt.
The children put marshmallows on sticks and held them over the fire.
He bought a bag of marshmallows for the camping trip.
noununcountable
The soft, spongy substance that this sweet is made of, often used as a filling or topping in foods.
Grammar: Uncountable: use it without an or an, and without a plural, when talking about the substance.
Patterns
- marshmallow filling
- marshmallow cream
- made of marshmallow
The pie had a layer of marshmallow on top.
This ice cream contains marshmallow and chocolate pieces.
The candy bar has a marshmallow center covered in chocolate.
Word forms
| plural | marshmallows |
|---|
Common combinations
- toast a marshmallow
- We toasted marshmallows over the campfire until they were golden.
- mini marshmallows
- She added mini marshmallows to the fruit salad.
- marshmallow fluff
- The sandwich was made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.
- a bag of marshmallows
- He grabbed a bag of marshmallows from the store shelf.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- marshmallow adjective
- Used before a noun to describe something made of or resembling marshmallow, as in marshmallow texture.
Commonly confused: marshmallow or marsh mallow?
marshmallow vs marsh mallow
Marsh mallow is a plant with pink flowers that grows in salty marshes. The sweet is spelled as one word, marshmallow.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses marshmallow correctly.
Choose one answer.
A single piece is a marshmallow, so 'a marshmallow' is correct. 'A marshmallows' is wrong because an is not used with a plural. 'Marshmallow' without an or the is possible only when talking about the substance, not one piece. 'The marshmallow' is possible if you mean a specific one already mentioned, but the question asks for the general correct use, and option 0 is the natural first mention.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “marshmallow”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.