dumpling

Everyday

1. A dumpling is a small ball of dough that is boiled, steamed or fried, sometimes filled with meat or vegetables. tree →
2. A dumpling is a pudding of fruit wrapped in pastry, like an apple dumpling. tree →
3. (informal) Dumpling is a fond name for a small, chubby child or pet. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life dumplings come from many food cultures: British dumplings in stew, Chinese jiaozi, Polish pierogi, Ukrainian varenyky, Japanese gyoza. They are popular at Chinese New Year. In maths, sharing dumplings is a common problem. Phrases: «stew and dumplings», «steamed dumplings».

Examples

• Grandma makes stew with fluffy dumplings. tree →
• We ate pork dumplings at the Chinese restaurant. tree →
• My mum and I fold dumplings for Lunar New Year. tree →
• Ukrainian varenyky are dumplings filled with potato or cherries. tree →
• There are 24 dumplings shared among 4 people, so each gets 6. tree →
• An apple dumpling is wrapped in pastry and baked. tree →
• «Come here, my little dumpling!» said Gran. tree →
• I remember that we once exchanged a rice-dumpling for a persimmon-seed. tree →

Note

Countable: a dumpling, dumplings. The pet name is affectionate, but calling someone a dumpling can sound like teasing about weight. In maths problems, «each», «share equally» and «in all» show whether to divide or multiply the dumplings.