patties

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   Small flat round cakes made of chopped meat, vegetables, or other food, often fried or grilled.

   Grammar: Countable noun; the singular is 'patty'. Use it for one item, 'patties' for more than one.

   Patterns

   • a beef patty
   • make patties
   • serve patties with something

   She shaped the ground beef into four flat patties.

   We ordered veggie burgers with thick mushroom patties.

   The recipe says to fry the patties for three minutes on each side.

2. 2nouncountableregional

   Round flat sweets or small pastries with a sweet filling, especially in Caribbean cooking.

   Grammar: Countable noun; often used in the plural when talking about a batch or type of sweet.

   Patterns

   • coconut patties
   • a plate of patties

   The bakery sells coconut patties dusted with sugar.

   For dessert we had warm apple patties with cream.

Word forms

Common combinations

beef patties

The freezer is full of beef patties for quick dinners.

form patties

Use your hands to form the mixture into small patties.

cook patties

Cook the patties until they are brown on both sides.

a patty pan

A patty pan makes it easy to shape uniform burgers.

Synonyms and how they differ

cake

Use 'cake' for a sweet baked dessert, but 'patty' for a small flat savory or sweet item that is usually fried or grilled.

burger

A 'burger' often means a whole sandwich with a bun; a 'patty' is just the flat piece of meat or other food inside.

croquette

A croquette is a small roll coated in breadcrumbs and fried; a patty is flatter and not always coated.

Word family

patty noun

singular form of the same word

Commonly confused: patties or pasty?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “patties”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words