biscuit

 
Pronunciation: /ˈbɪskɪt/

noun

  • 1British a small baked unleavened cake, typically crisp, flat, and sweet: a chocolate biscuit
  • North American a small, soft round cake like a scone.
  • 2 [mass noun] porcelain or other pottery which has been fired but not glazed: [as modifier]: biscuit ware
  • 3 [mass noun] a light brown colour.
  • 4 Carpentry a small flat piece of wood used to join two larger pieces of wood together, fitting into slots in each.

Phrases

take the biscuit (or chiefly North American cake)

informal
be the most remarkable or foolish of its kind.

Derivatives

biscuity

adjective

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French bescuit, based on Latin bis 'twice' + coctus, past participle of coquere 'to cook' (so named because originally biscuits were cooked in a twofold process: first baked and then dried out in a slow oven so that they would keep)

Spelling help

Remember that the ending of biscuit is -cuit.