vanilla

Everyday

1. Vanilla is a sweet flavour that comes from the seed pods of a kind of orchid plant. tree →
2. Vanilla is a flavour of ice cream, cake and other sweets. tree →
3. Informally, «vanilla» means plain or ordinary, with nothing special added. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life, vanilla is a favourite ice-cream flavour and is used in baking. In science and geography, vanilla pods grow on a climbing orchid in warm countries and must be dried. In maths problems, choosing flavours like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry is used for counting and probability. Phrases: «vanilla ice cream», «vanilla essence», «vanilla extract», «plain vanilla».

Examples

• I'd like a vanilla ice cream, please. tree →
• Add a teaspoon of vanilla to the cake mix. tree →
• Vanilla comes from the pod of an orchid. tree →
• Of 20 pupils, 8 chose vanilla, 7 chose chocolate and 5 chose strawberry. tree →
• The cupcakes smelled of vanilla. tree →
• It was just a vanilla phone with no extra features. tree →

Note

Uncountable as a flavour: «some vanilla». Spelt with double l. Vanilla extract has alcohol, so it is only used in small amounts in baking. «Vanilla» meaning «plain» is informal.