flour

American  

[flou^uhr, flou-er] / flaʊər, ˈflaʊ ər /

noun

1. the finely ground meal of grain, especially the finer meal separated by bolting.

2. the finely ground and bolted meal of wheat, as that used in baking.

3. any finely ground meal resembling this, as of nuts or legumes: chickpea flour.

   almond flour;

   chickpea flour.

4. a finely ground, powdery foodstuff, as of dehydrated potatoes, fish, or bananas.

5. a fine, soft powder.

   flour of emery.

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verb (used with object)

1. to grind (grain or the like) into flour.

2. to sprinkle or dredge with flour.

   Flour the chicken before frying.

verb (used without object)

1. (of mercury) to refuse to amalgamate with another metal because of some impurity of the metal; lie on the surface of the metal in the form of minute globules.

2. to disintegrate into minute particles.

flour British  

/ ˈflaʊə /

noun

1. a powder, which may be either fine or coarse, prepared by sifting and grinding the meal of a grass, esp wheat

2. any finely powdered substance

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verb

1. (tr) to make (grain) into flour

2. (tr) to dredge or sprinkle (food or cooking utensils) with flour

3. (of mercury) to break into fine particles on the surface of a metal rather than amalgamating, or to produce such an effect on (a metal). The effect is caused by impurities, esp sulphur

Other Word Forms

• flourless adjective
• floury adjective
• overflour verb
• unfloured adjective

Etymology

Origin of flour

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English flour, flur, flower, special use of flower (in the sense “finest part”); compare French fleur de farine “the flower, or finest part, of meal”

Explanation

Flour is a fine, powdery ingredient that's used to bake bread and cake and is made by grinding wheat or other grains. A traditional pound cake is made with a pound of flour. You'll need flour when you bake almost anything, and while flour is usually made from wheat, you can also buy rice flour, corn flour, and may other kinds. When you sprinkle flour on the counter before kneading bread dough, you flour it. Flour comes from its homophone, flower, from the sense of "the finest or loveliest part of the meal," just as a flower is the finest part of a plant.

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, the perversion of ordinary goods to serve a fully militarized state is encapsulated in the difficulty the boy has in finding white flour: None is available because it’s being used to stanch wounds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

When wheat flour was removed from the diet, both body weight and metabolic abnormalities improved quickly.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

Sybilla Masters invented corn-processing machinery in 1715, mechanizing the arduous task of pounding corn into meal or flour.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Once sliced, the tomatoes are dipped in flour, then in eggs and, finally, in coarse cornmeal before they are fried to golden-brown perfection.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

So you can see it would be handy to have chickens and a cow and whatever flour comes from.

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones

Related Words

• grate