Soufflé
adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A baked dish made from beaten egg whites and various other ingredients, usually prepared and served in a small earthenware bowl (ramekin). countable, uncountable
"Setting the soufflés before us, the waitress warns that the ramekins are hot."
- 1 To prepare as a soufflé. transitive
"It is quite possible that the first attempt at souffléing potatoes may be a failure."
- 2 To treat analogously to the way one prepares a soufflé.; To whirl around or beat violently. broadly, figuratively, transitive
"The July Revolution's promises have been fricasseed, liberties ground into salamis, the budget souffléd, republicans put up as marmalade, public order fried, politesse burned, and glory boiled."
- 3 To treat analogously to the way one prepares a soufflé.; To give a light, airy, and/or fluffy texture to, especially if done by whipping or blowing. broadly, figuratively, transitive
"Designed by Shannon Rodgers for Jerry Silverman, in ivory souffléd wool tweed."
- 4 To treat analogously to the way one prepares a soufflé.; To make lighthearted, witty, or whimsical. broadly, figuratively, transitive
"Feeling that he must bring his subject down to the level of a layman's comprehension, the author has outdone himself in preparing a style picturesque and souffléd enough to do the trick requested."
- 5 To treat analogously to the way one prepares a soufflé.; To puff up or bloat. broadly, figuratively, transitive
"Not a rite-of-passage rash-and-fever, not a week eating ice cream on the sofa, this was not chickenpox but a biblical plague the month before he turned two, his skinny frame covered entire with pennysized bulbs sagging, fat with neon green pus, as though he had been mummified in bubble wrap, victim of the world's bees, skin around the pustules souffléd with red welts, coat of monstrous nipples."
- 1 Decorated with very small drops or sprinkles of colour, as if blown from a bellows. not-comparable
Example
More examples"Setting the soufflés before us, the waitress warns that the ramekins are hot."
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French soufflé, from souffler (“to puff”).