butter

Everyday

1. Butter is a soft, yellow food made from cream, which people spread on bread or use in cooking. tree →
2. To butter something means to spread butter on it. tree →
3. Peanut butter and other «butters» are smooth spreads made from crushed nuts or seeds. tree →

In the lessons

In cooking lessons butter is used in cakes, biscuits and sauces; it melts when warm and goes hard in the fridge, which is a good example of melting and solidifying in science. Butter is made by churning (shaking or stirring) cream until the fat sticks together. In health lessons butter is a fat, so it is eaten in small amounts. Phrases: bread and butter, peanut butter, butter up (to flatter), butterfingers (someone who drops things).

Examples

• Spread some butter on your toast. tree →
• Mum buttered the bread for our sandwiches. tree →
• Butter melts in a hot pan. tree →
• We made butter at school by shaking cream in a jar. tree →
• Keep the butter in the fridge so it stays fresh. tree →
• I'm allergic to peanuts, so I can't eat peanut butter. tree →
• You need butter, sugar, flour and eggs to make a cake. tree →
• Oops, butterfingers! You dropped the ball again. tree →
• “Curly is taking both butter and honey.” tree →

Note

Uncountable: some butter, a piece of butter (not «a butter»). Butter is made from milk, so people with a milk allergy cannot eat it. Do not use butter on burns; that is a myth — cool a burn with cool running water instead.

In Jewish tradition

Butter in the Bible is often made from the milk of cows or sheep. It was a sign of rich food and plenty.

Interpretation. Job remembers his past blessing as a time when his path ran with butter and oil. The tradition reads this as a picture of God's abundance in a good life.

Examples

• When my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil! (Writings JOB.29.6, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Uncountable: some butter, a piece of butter (not «a butter»). Butter is made from milk, so people with a milk allergy cannot eat it. Do not use butter on burns; that is a myth — cool a burn with cool running water instead.