sandwich
/ˈsan(d)wɪdʒ
/ /ˈsan(d)wɪtʃ/noun
1An item of food consisting of two pieces of bread with a filling between them, eaten as a light meal: a ham sandwich...
- Sunshine and a light breeze can make even a ham sandwich twice the meal it is indoors.
- Food comes in the form of light snacks, sandwiches and salads.
- Operators such as U.S.-based Subway Restaurants are pulling in customers with fresh salads and sandwiches on focaccia bread.
1.1British A sponge cake of two or more layers with jam or cream between.Immediately he filled his many pockets with as much pastries, sandwiches, and small cakes as he possibly could and still be able to move around at the same time....
- This sandwich is actually one of our favorite desserts.
1.2Something that is constructed like or has the form of a sandwich.Its windows are fake and the exterior walls are constructed with a sandwich of blast-proof Kevlar between two layers of concrete block....
- The vessels are of catamaran design, the hulls being constructed from a fibre-reinforced plastic sandwich.
- The two central layers in the silica sandwich deal with the significant pressure differences between the pressurised space station and the vacuum of space.
2 [as modifier] British Relating to a sandwich course: the degree includes a sandwich year...
- This could come in the form of project work, or in the case of something like a sandwich degree, a year out on an industry placement.
- While studying for your degree in chemistry it is possible for you to spend up to one year away from the University, as a sandwich year.
verb [with object] (usually be sandwiched between)
Insert or squeeze (someone or something) between two other people or things, typically in a restricted space or so as to be uncomfortable: the girl was sandwiched between two burly men in the back of the car...
- Of course, the rockist element is sandwiched between, if not crammed into, equal doses of vocodered neo-electro, orchestral manoeuvres and celestial harmonies, folksy strumming and awkward, Germanic vacuum beats.
- The location is not central to the museum's traffic flow, and the space is sandwiched between the Asia Hall on one side and an exhibition devoted to the Ice Age on the other.
- Fold top piece of felt back over (as if closing a book) the bottom half, sandwiching the craft stick between the two dress cut-outs.
Phrases
the meat (or filling) in the sandwich
a sandwich (or two sandwiches) short of a picnic
Origin
Mid 18th century: named after the 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718–92), an English nobleman said to have eaten food in this form so as not to leave the gaming table.
John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was a notorious gambler. So that he did not have to leave the gaming table to eat, he had cold beef put between slices of bread and brought to him. This was the first sandwich, whose earliest mention comes in 1762, although it is hard to believe that no one had eaten them before this.