yeast
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
yeast/jiːst/
▶noun
- 1 a microscopic single-celled fungus capable of converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. [Saccharomyces cerevisiae (brewer's yeast) and related species.]
■ a greyish-yellow preparation of this obtained chiefly from fermented beer, used as a fermenting agent, to raise bread dough, and as a food supplement.
- 2 Biology any unicellular fungus that reproduces vegetatively by budding or fission, e.g. candida.
– origin OE, of Gmc origin.
'yeast' also found in these Oxford entries:
barm
- Bath bun
- beer
- biotin
- bottom fermentation
- bread
- brioche
- candida
- croissant
- crumpet
- cryptococcosis
- Danish pastry
- ferment
- flor
- fungus
- invertase
- kieselguhr
- leaven
- Marmite
- muffin
- proof
- prove
- pyridoxine
- savarin
- teacake
- thrush
- top fermentation
- torula
- unleavened
- Vegemite
- YAC
- yeasty
- zymase
