Donut Meaning & Usage: What's a Donut?

Meaning 1：donut (Donuts)

Donuts 🔊

/ˈdoʊnʌts/

A sweet, ring-shaped piece of fried dough, often with sugar or icing on top.

donut 🔊

➕

/ˈdoʊnʌt/

A sweet, deep-fried pastry in a ring shape, typically coated with sugar, glaze, or icing.

📁 Category：Diet & Health 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From 'dough' + 'nut', describing a small fried cake originally nut-shaped.

💡 Mnemonic

Think 'dough' + 'nut' = fried dough shaped like a nut. Remember the hole makes it a donut.

📖 Example

The smell of fresh donuts from the bakery always makes my Saturday mornings feel special. 🔊 The smell of fresh donuts from the bakery always makes my Saturday mornings feel special.

🔗 Collocations

glazed donut – a donut covered with a sweet, shiny coating

donut shop – a store that sells donuts and coffee

donut hole – a small, round piece of dough removed from the center of a donut

🔄 Synonyms

doughnut (n.) – alternative spelling of donut

fried cake (n.) – any small, sweet fried pastry

🌱 Derivatives

donut-shaped (adj.) – having the ring shape of a donut

📖 Cultural Story

Origin: 19th-century American, possibly from Dutch 'oliekoek' (oil cake). The hole was popularized by Captain Hanson Gregory in 1847 for even cooking.