sandwich
noun
two or more slices of bread with a layer of meat, fish, cheese, etc., between them.
sandwich
1 American
[sand-wich, san-]
/ ˈsænd wɪtʃ, ˈsæn- /
noun
-
sandwiches
plural
-
two or more slices of bread with a layer of meat, fish, cheese, etc., between them.
a tuna sandwich.
-
a partially slit bread roll, pita, etc., with a filling.
a falafel sandwich.
-
something resembling or suggesting a sandwich, as something in horizontal layers.
a plywood sandwich.
verb (used with object)
-
sandwiches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sandwiched,
past participle, past
-
sandwiching
present participle
-
to put into a sandwich.
-
to insert between two other things.
to sandwich a personal appointment between two business meetings.
Sandwich
2
American
[sand-wich, san-]
/ ˈsænd wɪtʃ, ˈsæn- /
noun
sandwich
British
/ ˈsænwɪdʒ, -wɪtʃ /
noun
-
two or more slices of bread, usually buttered, with a filling of meat, cheese, etc
-
anything that resembles a sandwich in arrangement
verb
-
to insert tightly between two other things
-
to put into a sandwich
-
to place between two dissimilar things
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sandwichsimple
-
sandwichessimple
-
have sandwichedperfect
-
has sandwichedperfect
-
am sandwichingprogressive
-
are sandwichingprogressive
-
is sandwichingprogressive
-
have been sandwichingperfect progressive
-
has been sandwichingperfect progressive
Past
-
sandwichedsimple
-
had sandwichedperfect
-
was sandwichingprogressive
-
were sandwichingprogressive
-
had been sandwichingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sandwich
First recorded in 1755–65; named after the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718–92)
Explanation
A sandwich is a meal in the form of two pieces of bread with meat, cheese, or some other filling between them. Your favorite lunch might be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When you put something between slices of bread, it's a sandwich. It's named for the Fourth Earl of Sandwich who's credited with inventing it. Sandwich is a verb too, that describes putting something between two other things, like sandwiching gym class between math and lunch. Sometimes sandwich involves being squeezed uncomfortably, like having to sandwich yourself between people on a crowded elevator or subway car.
Vocabulary lists containing sandwich
Commonly Misspelled Words, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The sandwich chain posted a profit of $37 million for the quarter ended June 28, down from $59 million a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Shelton isn’t a corned beef sandwich at an all-night diner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
The sandwich shop had struggled to maintain supply of the cola for the last eight years as the distributor cut back production due to the rising cost of aluminium.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
The front page of the Daily Star is dedicated to a confession from Declan Donnelly, who said he once forgot to pay for an egg and bacon sandwich from Marks & Spencer.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
They saved one sandwich each, but the rest went over.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Sandwich would go on to reshape naval procurement and dockyards, and with his pursuit of modern ship design became critical to the 18th-century Royal Navy’s expansion into the world’s biggest industrial unit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Anyway, the jury came back with a verdict of not guilty, acquitting Sandwich Guy of all charges.
From Slate ● Nov. 7, 2025
Though humans have been making bread for thousands of years, the sandwich as we know it today is said to owe its popularity to John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
At Attari Sandwich Shop, known for its beef tongue sandwich, the pre-revolution Iranian flag hung near the cash register — but none of the diners wanted to give an interview.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2025
He hadn’t ruled out prophecies entirely, but he was skeptical about anything Sandwich came up with.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
By January 2021, more than 20 American fast-food brands had introduced or rereleased chicken sandwiches, including Panda Express, which launched an Orange Chicken Sandwich.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
One of his new compositions, he said, came from a time he had remembered living on Bracken Road in Port Talbot and his mother had made him lemon curd sandwiches.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
It does not know where I live, what time I usually eat lunch or whether I have recently been searching for sandwiches.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
He used to order from Chick-fil-A two chicken sandwiches, four chicken strips and 10 chicken nuggets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Frank produced sandwiches, and homemade honey flapjacks, and black coffee from a flask.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Last year, there was one: Journalism, who sandwiched a win in the Preakness around runner-up finishes in the Derby and Belmont.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Her village, Htomar, was sandwiched between a military base and an insurgent-controlled area.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Per one Redditor, goat cheese and fig jam sandwiched between a date makes for an excellent sweet-savory snack.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
"Mining has destroyed our region," said Salle Kumar, a 34-year-old farmer who lives in a village sandwiched between two massive mines in Rajasthan.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
Right next to Layla so that they were sandwiched in between their parents.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
Job growth averaged 150,000 to 200,000 a month in the decade sandwiching the 2020-2021 pandemic.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
Our gulab jamun ice cream cakes have become a defining product for Malai: saffron syrup–soaked cardamom cakes sandwiching our rose with Cinnamon roasted Almonds Ice Cream .
From Salon ● May 31, 2025
Washington’s Moses Wood was doing much of it in the final minutes, sandwiching a long jumper between two three-pointers as the Huskies countered every Trojans basket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
I love many British pastries but became particularly and pleasantly obsessed with Dobes’ Bakewell tart — an almond frangipane topping and pastry base sandwiching a layer of raspberry jam.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
I motion for Suma to remain at the back of the line, sandwiching the three of them between us.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
