Meaning & use
pantry
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small room or cupboard off the kitchen where food, dishes or cooking supplies are kept.
Grammar: Countable: a pantry, two pantries.
Patterns
- in the pantry
- a pantry full of something
She took a can of tomatoes from the pantry.
The old house had a cool pantry with shelves up to the ceiling.
We stocked the pantry before the storm.
nounsingularinformal
The stock of non-perishable food a household keeps ready to use.
Grammar: Often with possessive: my pantry is almost empty.
Patterns
- raid the pantry
- pantry staples
Dinner came entirely from the pantry, with no shopping needed.
He cooked soup using whatever was left in the pantry.
Rice, beans and pasta are classic pantry staples.
nouncountableAmerican
A charity service or center that gives free food to people in need, as in a food pantry.
Grammar: Usually part of the phrase food pantry: they volunteer at the food pantry.
Patterns
- a food pantry
The church runs a pantry every Saturday morning.
Volunteers sorted donations at the food pantry.
Many families rely on the local pantry for groceries.
Word forms
| plural | pantries |
|---|
Common combinations
- well-stocked pantry
- A well-stocked pantry makes weeknight cooking easy.
- pantry shelf
- Store the flour on a pantry shelf.
- pantry staples
- Pasta and canned beans are pantry staples.
- raid the pantry
- The kids raided the pantry after school.
- walk-in pantry
- They wanted a walk-in pantry in the new kitchen.
- food pantry
- She donated tins to the food pantry.
Synonyms and how they differ
- larder
- A larder was traditionally a cool room for perishable food, while a pantry usually holds dry goods.
- cupboard
- Cupboard is any closed storage unit, not necessarily for food or in a separate room.
- storeroom
- Storeroom is for any goods and is not tied to kitchens as pantry is.
- scullery
- A scullery is a back room for washing dishes, not for storing food.
Word family
- pantryman noun
- a servant or worker in charge of a pantry, an old term
- pantler noun
- a historical servant who looked after bread and the pantry
Commonly confused: pantry or panty? pantry or larder?
pantry vs panty
Panty relates to underwear; pantry is the food storage room.
pantry vs larder
A larder was cooler and kept meat and dairy; a pantry holds dry goods and dishes.
Practice
Where would you most likely keep a bag of rice and canned beans?
Choose one answer.
Dry goods and cans are kept in a pantry. A scullery is a washing room, so storing food there would be unusual.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pantry”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.