pudding

American  

[pood-ing] / ˈpʊd ɪŋ /

noun

1. a thick, soft dessert, typically containing flour or some other thickener, milk, eggs, a flavoring, and sweetener.

   tapioca pudding.

2. a similar dish unsweetened and served with or as a main dish.

   corn pudding.

3. British. the dessert course of a meal.

4. Nautical. a pad or fender for preventing scraping or chafing or for lessening shock between vessels or other objects.

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pudding British  

/ ˈpʊdɪŋ /

noun

1. a sweetened usually cooked dessert made in many forms and of various ingredients, such as flour, milk, and eggs, with fruit, etc

2. a savoury dish, usually soft and consisting partially of pastry or batter

   steak-and-kidney pudding

3. the dessert course in a meal

4. a sausage-like mass of seasoned minced meat, oatmeal, etc, stuffed into a prepared skin or bag and boiled

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pudding Idioms  

1. see proof of the pudding.

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Other Word Forms

• puddinglike adjective
• puddingy adjective

Etymology

Origin of pudding

1275–1325; Middle English poding kind of sausage; compare Old English puduc wen, sore (perhaps originally swelling), Low German puddewurst black pudding

Explanation

Pudding is a sweet, creamy dessert that you eat with a spoon. The song “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” implores someone to “bring us some figgy pudding,” but chocolate or vanilla would be much easier to find. Most pudding is made with milk, sugar, and flavoring with a thickening agent like cornstarch. Your favorite might be dark chocolate, butterscotch, or rice pudding. These are delicious, smooth, and usually served cold. In Britain, pudding simply means "dessert," but in North America pudding is a specific kind of after-dinner treat. Back in the 1300s, pudding had a different meaning: "a kind of sausage." You can still get that kind of blood pudding in England. If you must.

Example Sentences

The maker of Slim Jim snacks and Snack Pack pudding cups on Wednesday posted a profit of $199.8 million, or 42 cents a share, for its quarter ended Feb. 22.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

"And the proof will only be in the pudding."

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

But it’s a mistake to read this episode as evidence that moral standards are just that much higher in the land of sticky toffee pudding and the BBC Proms.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2026

“Throughout the Middle East, cardamom scents rice pudding; baklava; and, perhaps most important, qahwah, or cardamom-spiced coffee,” writes Steve Dunn for America’s Test Kitchen.

From Salon • Jan. 25, 2026

“Ah, never say that, sweet pudding, for you are as alike as two peas. Just so you are not twins.”

From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman