pepper

Everyday

1. A hot-tasting powder made from dried, crushed peppercorns, used to season food (salt and pepper). tree →
2. A hollow vegetable, red, green, yellow or orange, also called a bell pepper or capsicum (sweet pepper); some small ones are hot (chilli peppers). tree →
3. To put pepper on food. tree →
4. To cover or fill something with many small things (a speech peppered with jokes; peppered with hail). tree →

In the lessons

In cooking and everyday life, pepper is a spice on the table next to salt. Peppers are vegetables (botanically fruits, because they hold seeds). In science experiments, the «pepper and soap» trick shows surface tension: pepper floats, and soap makes it rush to the edges. In safety: pepper spray stings eyes; chilli peppers burn — wash hands before touching your eyes. Phrases: salt and pepper, black pepper, red pepper, pepper pot/shaker, peppered with.

Examples

• Could you pass the salt and pepper, please? tree →
• Mum sliced a red pepper for the salad. tree →
• Black pepper made me sneeze. tree →
• Wash your hands after cutting chilli peppers before you touch your eyes. tree →
• Sprinkle pepper on water, then touch it with soapy finger — watch it move! tree →
• Her story was peppered with funny jokes. tree →
• In Australia, a bell pepper is called a capsicum. tree →
• She looked out, and the night was peppered with stars. tree →

Note

Two meanings: pepper (spice, uncountable: some pepper) and a pepper (vegetable, countable: two peppers). The vegetable is called «capsicum» in Australia and New Zealand, «bell pepper» in the USA and Canada, «pepper» in the UK and Ireland.