shawarma

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A Middle Eastern dish of thin slices of meat cooked on a slowly turning vertical spit and usually served in flatbread.

   Grammar: Countable for a single wrap (two shawarmas), uncountable for the food in general (I love shawarma).

   Patterns

   • a chicken shawarma
   • order a shawarma

   We bought a chicken shawarma from the stall near the station.

   The shawarma was wrapped in warm pita with pickles and garlic sauce.

   Shawarma is popular as a late-night meal in many cities.

Word forms

Common combinations

chicken shawarma

I'll have the chicken shawarma with extra garlic sauce.

shawarma wrap

She ate a shawarma wrap on the way to class.

shawarma stand

The shawarma stand on the corner is always busy at lunchtime.

shawarma spit

The cook shaved meat from the shawarma spit with a long knife.

order a shawarma

Let's order a shawarma and share some fries.

Synonyms and how they differ

doner kebab

Doner kebab is a Turkish dish cooked in a similar way, and it is the more common name in Britain and Germany, while shawarma is the usual Levantine term.

gyro

A gyro is the Greek version, usually made with pork or lamb and served with tzatziki, so the flavors differ from shawarma.

Word family

falafel noun

fried chickpea balls often served alongside shawarma

pita noun

flatbread used to wrap shawarma

Practice

Make it your own

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