hamburger
/ˈhæmˌbɜɹ.ɡɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.45 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A hot sandwich consisting of a patty of cooked ground beef or a meat substitute, in a sliced bun, usually also containing salad vegetables, condiments, or both.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An animal or human, or the flesh thereof, that has been badly injured as a result of an accident or conflict.
American usage; Colloquial; Countable; Uncountable
noun
Describing the shape of a rectangular piece of paper folded in half so that it forms a short rectangle.
American usage; Countable; Informal; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The truck hit the deer and turned it into hamburger."
- "I'm going to make you into hamburger if you do that again."
- "The men played baseball on coral diamonds that tore their shoes and clothes and hamburgered their hands."
- "And his tires triggered no Claymore mines or Bouncing Betties that might have hamburgered his vehicle with him in it."
- "My tears are like gagged pieces of ice cutting up my eyeballs and hamburgering my face."
- "It’s a trail that has taken more than its fair share of blood, my first flat tire, and hamburgered my entire forearm on a descent."
Etymology
Shortening of Hamburger sandwich, Hamburger steak, etc., the first element borrowed from German Hamburger (“native of Hamburg”), equivalent to Hamburg + -er.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Hamburger
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhæmˌbɜɹ.ɡɚ/
- British English: /ˈhæmˌbɜː.ɡə/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.