cheese

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈchēz 

often attributive

1

a

: a food consisting of the coagulated, compressed, and usually ripened curd of milk separated from the whey

b

: an often cylindrical cake of this food

2

: something resembling cheese in shape or consistency

3

: something cheap or shabby : cheesy material

cinematic cheese

cheese

2 of 3

verb

cheesed; cheesing

transitive verb

: to put an end to : stop

cheese

3 of 3

noun (2)

slang

: someone important

Phrases

cheese it

—used in the imperative as a warning of danger

cheese it, the cops

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• crapola [slang]
• dreck
• drek
• junk
• muck
• rubbish
• sleaze
• slop
• slush
• trash
• tripe

Examples of cheese in a Sentence

Noun (1)

you wouldn't believe the cheese that the movie studio puts out

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Sip on Washington state wines or the signature Olympic Mule (made with honey vodka) and dip house-made potato chips into dungeness crab and artichoke dip with Beecher’s local cheese curds. —Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024

Though all cheeses are high in protein, parmesan cheese is especially rich in this nutrient, packing 10.1 g per ounce.16 Snacking on salty parmesan cheese with naturally sweet fruit, like berries or a sliced peach, is a nutritious way to satisfy your nighttime hunger pangs. —Jillian Kubala, Health, 9 Sep. 2024

Verb

Listen to this article Boar’s Head is recalling 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products in addition to the 200,000 pounds of meat and cheese the company pulled from shelves last week. —Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 31 July 2024

Taking a variety of vintage photographs of strangers from the past, such as an actress’ headshots, a couple happily cheesing for the camera at a cocktail bar, postcards of horsemen and cutouts from old magazines, Wong uses acrylic markers to add bold color and liveliness. —Donny Bajohr, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Dec. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English chese, from Old English cēse, from Latin caseus cheese

Verb

origin unknown

Noun (2)

perhaps from Hindi cīz & Urdu chīz thing, from Persian chīz

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

circa 1811, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1920, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing cheese

• American cheese
• big cheese
• bleu cheese
• blue cheese
• burrata cheese
• cheese it
• Cheshire cheese
• club cheese
• cook cheese
• cotija cheese
• cottage cheese
• cream cheese
• Dutch cheese
• farmer cheese
• goat cheese
• hard cheese
• jack cheese
• longhorn cheese
• mac and cheese
• macaroni and cheese
• macaroni cheese
• pepper jack cheese
• pimento cheese
• pot cheese
• process cheese
• processed cheese
• rat cheese
• rat trap cheese
• sage cheese
• say cheese
• store cheese
• string cheese
• Swiss cheese
• Swiss cheese plant
• Swiss cheese vine
• the big cheese

Kids Definition

cheese

noun

ˈchēz

: a food made from milk usually by separating out the curd and molding it