What does "sandwich" mean?
A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
Sandwich
/ˈsæn.wɪd͡ʒ/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
- Grammar: sandwich is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: grinder, bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich, blt, bread sandwich.
- Useful contrasts: disperse, remove, separate.
- Usage evidence: What kind of sandwich do you want?
How to use "sandwich"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sandwich" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sandwich" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sandwich" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sandwich" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sandwich" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "grinder" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sandwich", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
"The most famous place in Copenhagen, Ida Davidsen, has a menu of 190 different kinds of open sandwich."
- 2 Obsolete form of sandwich. alt-of, obsolete
"I dined at the Cocoa Tree […] That reſpectable body, of which I have the honour of being a member, affords every evening a ſight truly English. Twenty or thirty, perhaps, of the firſt men in the kingdom, in point of faſhion and fortune, ſupping at little tables covered with a napkin, in the middle of a coffee-room, upon a bit of cold meat, or a Sandwich, and drinking a glaſs of punch."
- 3 two (or more) slices of bread with a filling between them wordnet
- 4 Any combination formed by layering one type of material between two layers of some other material. broadly
- 5 A layer cake or sandwich cake. UK
"[…] our local agricultural fair in Warwickshire even has a category for Victoria sandwiches baked by male bakers."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A sandwichman (one who wears a sandwich board). archaic
"We have, and not so very long ago, seen women employed as 'sandwiches'."
Verb
- 1 To place (an item) physically between two other, usually flat, items. transitive
"We saw a few Gresley Moguls on goods, as a limited amount of freight traffic was sandwiched in even on this busy day."
- 2 insert or squeeze tightly between two people or objects wordnet
- 3 To put or set between two other events in time. figuratively, transitive
"Street BASIC is becoming the language taught in junior high; it is sandwiched between Logo, which is taught in elementary school, and Pascal, which is taught in high school."
- 4 make into a sandwich wordnet
- 5 To double penetrate. transitive
"They sandwiched her, the footballer at her back, his dick tucked into the perfect seam of her ass as he fingered her pussy while the shorter, leaner, covered-in-tattoos Monsieur Artiste kissed her and pinched her nipples"
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To feed sandwiches to. informal, transitive
"But one or two evil-disposed characters muttered they might be sure the lady had her own turn to serve, and they might be sure they wasn't "teaed and muffined and sandwiched for nothing!""
- 7 To eat sandwiches. intransitive, rare
"Mr. and Mrs. Ted Craig (he^([sic]) speaker of the assembly) emerging from a popular drive-in after having sandwiched and coffeed . . ."
Adjective
- 1 Of a meal or serving size that is smaller than a dinner. US, not-comparable
Proper Noun
- 1 A town and civil parish with a town council in Dover district, Kent, southeastern England, one of the historic Cinque Ports (OS grid ref TR3258).
- 2 An English habitational surname originating from this town.
"The young lady, who made her firſt appearance in Lady Bab Lardoon, at the Haymarket on Monday night laſt, is a Miſs Prideaux, and lineally deſcended from one of the daughters and co-heireſſes of the Right Hon. John Wilmot, the witty Earl of Rocheſter, and conſequently related to the Sandwiches, Pomfrets, Coopers, and many other noble families."
- 3 One of several younger towns named after the town in Kent or after a person bearing the surname:; A city in DeKalb County and Kendall County, Illinois, United States.
- 4 One of several younger towns named after the town in Kent or after a person bearing the surname:; A town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States.
- 5 One of several younger towns named after the town in Kent or after a person bearing the surname:; A town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"What kind of sandwich do you want?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sandwich"?
Common synonyms include: grinder, bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich, blt, bread sandwich, burgers, butty.
How do you use "sandwich" in a sentence?
What kind of sandwich do you want?
How do you pronounce "sandwich"?
Pronounced /ˈsæn.wɪd͡ʒ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Named after its supposed inventor, the Earl of Sandwich (see Sandwich).
Etymology 2
The family name is from Old English Sandwīċ, from sand + wīċ (“wick, settlement, harbour, hamlet”), equivalent to sand + -wich.