FLOUR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flour mean? 

• FLOUR (noun)
  The noun FLOUR has 1 sense:

1. fine powdery foodstuff obtained by grinding and sifting the meal of a cereal grain

  Familiarity information: FLOUR used as a noun is very rare.

• FLOUR (verb)
  The verb FLOUR has 2 senses:

1. cover with flour

2. convert grain into flour

  Familiarity information: FLOUR used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLOUR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fine powdery foodstuff obtained by grinding and sifting the meal of a cereal grain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("flour" is a kind of...):

food product; foodstuff (a substance that can be used or prepared for use as food)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flour"):

plain flour (flour that does not contain a raising agent)

wheat flour (flour prepared from wheat)

soy flour; soybean flour; soybean meal (meal made from soybeans)

semolina (milled product of durum wheat (or other hard wheat) used in pasta)

Holonyms ("flour" is a substance of...):

pastry (any of various baked foods made of dough or batter)

bread; breadstuff; staff of life (food made from dough of flour or meal and usually raised with yeast or baking powder and then baked)

dough (a flour mixture stiff enough to knead or roll)

Derivation:

flour (convert grain into flour)

flour (cover with flour)

floury (resembling flour in fine powdery texture)

• FLOUR (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flour    ... he / she / it flours   
Past simple: floured   
Past participle: floured   
-ing form: flouring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover with flour

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

flour fish or meat before frying it

Hypernyms (to "flour" is one way to...):

dredge (cover before cooking)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

flour (fine powdery foodstuff obtained by grinding and sifting the meal of a cereal grain)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Convert grain into flour

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "flour" is one way to...):

convert (change the nature, purpose, or function of something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

flour (fine powdery foodstuff obtained by grinding and sifting the meal of a cereal grain)

 Context examples 

Compared to the capsule form, the powder contains a mixture of wheat flour, fats, and sugar that may contribute to the enhanced bioavailability of fenretinide.

(Fenretinide Lipid Matrix, NCI Thesaurus)

While otherwise avoiding peanut throughout the trial, 95 participants received gradually increasing daily doses of peanut protein up to 4 grams, and 25 participants received daily placebo oat flour OIT.

(Few people with peanut allergy tolerate peanut after stopping oral immunotherapy, National Institutes of Health)

Examples are bread, pasta, and other products made from white flour that have B vitamins added back.

(Enriched food, NCI Dictionary)

I had for breakfast more paprika, and a sort of porridge of maize flour which they said was mamaliga, and egg-plant stuffed with forcemeat, a very excellent dish, which they call impletata.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

There is an Indian. His name is Mobits. From white man he steals two pounds of flour. What does the white man do? Does he beat Mobits? No. Does he kill Mobits? No.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Everybody acknowledged Buck a magnificent animal, but twenty fifty-pound sacks of flour bulked too large in their eyes for them to loosen their pouch-strings.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He was hoisted up like a bag of flour, and fell with a brutal thud into the bottom of the carriage.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He led him to the king’s palace where all the flour in the whole Kingdom was collected, and from it he caused a huge mountain of bread to be baked.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

In an experiment, allergy sufferers were given increasing amounts of peanut flour to eat until they had an allergic reaction, which was treated quickly.

(Poor Sleep, Lack of Exercise Increase Risk of Nut Allergy, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Not at all, with Hannah bustling about and covering you with flour.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)