souffle

¹ American  

[soo-fuhl] / ˈsu fəl /

noun

Pathology.

1. a murmuring or blowing sound heard on auscultation.

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soufflé ² American  

[soo-fley, soo-fley] / suˈfleɪ, ˈsu fleɪ /

noun

1. a light baked dish made fluffy with beaten egg whites combined with egg yolks, white sauce, and fish, cheese, or other ingredients.

2. a similar dish made with fruit juices, chocolate, vanilla, etc., and served as dessert.

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adjective

1. Also souffléed puffed up; made light, as by beating and cooking.

verb (used with object)

souffléed, souffléing

1. to make (food) puffed up and light, as by beating and cooking, adding stiffly beaten egg whites, etc.; make resemble a soufflé.

   to soufflé leftover mashed potatoes.

soufflé ¹ British  

/ ˈsuːfleɪ /

noun

1. a very light fluffy dish made with egg yolks and stiffly beaten egg whites combined with cheese, fish, etc

2. a similar sweet or savoury cold dish, set with gelatine

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adjective

1. made light and puffy, as by beating and cooking

souffle ² British  

/ ˈsuːfəl /

noun

1. med a blowing sound or murmur heard in auscultation

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Etymology

Origin of souffle¹

From French, dating back to 1875–80; soufflé

Origin of soufflé²

1805–15; < French, noun use of past participle of souffler to blow, puff < Latin sufflāre to breathe on, blow on

Example Sentences

My aunt made a dessert that was supposed to be an orange souffle.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

Her most popular items include wondrously fluffy souffle cheesecake, minimally sweet strawberry cake and a tender single-layer matcha gâteau.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2023

Think about old-school cartoons in which a character is making a delicate souffle; inevitably someone bangs the oven door closed and the dish dramatically sinks, folding in upon itself.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2023

And so eventually my parents let me make her roast lamb, and the spinach souffle, and cream puffs.

From Washington Post • Jun. 22, 2022

Now we gently folded my egg whites into the thick syrup, then poured the airy, toast-colored mixture into a souffle dish and put it aside.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan