leavening

Everyday

1. Leavening is something added to dough or batter, like yeast, baking powder or baking soda, to make it rise and become light. tree →
2. (literary) A leavening is a small amount of something, like humour, that makes something heavier or more serious better and lighter. tree →

In the lessons

Science and cooking: yeast makes gas bubbles that raise bread. Bible and church: unleavened bread (without yeast) at Passover; Jesus spoke of yeast (leaven) in parables. Stories: «a leavening of humour».

Examples

• Yeast is the leavening in bread. tree →
• Baking powder is a leavening for cakes. tree →
• Matzah is bread made without leavening. tree →
• Without leavening, the cake came out flat. tree →
• His jokes gave a leavening of fun to the long meeting. tree →
• The class tested which leavening made the dough rise most. tree →

Note

Say «LEV-en-ing». Base word: leaven. «Unleavened bread» = flat bread with no yeast.