Thickening Meaning
/ˈθɪkənɪŋ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe process of making something, or becoming, thick or viscous.
nounA substance, usually a source of starch, used to thicken a sauce.
Sentence Examples
The fog was thickening quickly.
Corn starch is good for thickening soup.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sauce started ____ after the cook added some cornstarch to it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She used a little bit of cornflour as a ____ agent for the soup to make it more hearty and satisfying today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English thicken English -ing English thickening From thicken + -ing.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] the inner layer (of nearly equally large cells) lacks the regular semiannular or annular thickenings of most other leafy liverworts […]"
— 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 6:
"They disappear at once on slightly relaxing the air-pressure, whilst true incipient thickenings of the surface remain white and unpliably stiff."
— 1902, Edwin Hurry Fenwick, Obscure Diseases of the Urethra, page 30:
"From Keighley onwards we had obviously returned to civilisation, for the surrounding country was now studded with the sodium street lights of suburbia and a thickening industrial haze was blotting out the moon."
— 1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 48:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sauce started ____ after the cook added some cornstarch to it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She used a little bit of cornflour as a ____ agent for the soup to make it more hearty and satisfying today.