Link Centre Dictionary

cream

UK/kɹiːm/ US/ˈkrim/ common informal slang uk us

noun

1.

the best people or things in a group

  • “the cream of England”
Synonyms
2.

the part of milk containing the butterfat

3.

toiletry consisting of any of various substances in the form of a thick liquid that have a soothing and moisturizing effect when applied to the skin

verb

1.

make creamy by beating

  • “Cream the butter”
2.

put on cream, as on one''s face or body

  • “She creams her face every night”
3.

remove from the surface

  • “skim cream from the surface of milk”
4.

add cream to one''s coffee, for example

Origin

From Middle English creime, creme, from Old French creme, cresme, blend of Late Latin chrisma (“ointment”) (from Ancient Greek χρῖσμα (khrîsma, “unguent”)), and Late Latin crāmum (“cream”), from Gaulish *crama (compare Welsh cramen (“scab, skin”), Breton crammen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krama- (compare Middle Irish screm (“surface, skin”), Dutch schram (“abrasion”), Lithuanian kramas (“scurf”)). Doublet of crema and crème. Displaced native Old English rēam (“cream”) (> modern ream). Figurative sense of "most excellent element or part" appears from 1581. Verb meaning "to beat, thrash, wreck" is 1929, U.S. colloquial. The U.S. standard of identity is from 21 CFR 131.3(a).

Phrases

  • barrier cream
  • Bavarian cream
  • BB cream
  • beard cream
  • Boston cream
  • Boston cream donut
  • Boston cream pie
  • bourbon cream
  • cream in one's jeans
  • cream in one's pants
  • cream off
  • cream one's jeans

Related words

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.