n.
- The yellowish fatty component of unhomogenized milk that tends to accumulate at the surface.
- Any of various substances resembling or containing cream: hand cream.
- A pale yellow to yellowish white.
- The choicest part: the cream of the crop.
v., creamed, cream·ing, creams. v.intr.
- To form cream.
- To form foam or froth at the top.
- To remove the cream from; skim.
- To take or remove (the best part): creamed off the highest-paying jobs for her cronies.
- To take the best part from: creamed the whole department to form his management team.
- To beat into a creamy consistency.
- To prepare or cook in or with a cream sauce.
- To add cream to.
- Slang.
- To defeat overwhelmingly: creamed our rival on their home court.
- To damage severely; destroy: My camera got creamed when I dropped it.
[Middle English creme, from Old French craime (from Late Latin crāmum, of Celtic origin) and from Old French cresme (from Latin chrīsma, an anointing , from Greek khrīsma, unguent , from khrīein, to anoint).]
cream cream adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.