noun
doughnut
DOH-nuht
noun
1
A small, sweet, deep-fried piece of dough, usually ring-shaped or filled with jam or cream.
"He grabbed a glazed doughnut on his way to work."
"The bakery sells jam-filled doughnuts every morning."
2
Anything shaped like a ring or torus, such as a spare tyre or a skid mark made by spinning a car in a circle.
"The car spun a doughnut in the empty parking lot."
"He changed the flat and put on the doughnut spare."
How to Use Doughnut
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe ring-shaped fried pastry — also used for anything else shaped like a ring.
UK vs US
British English often spells it "doughnut"; American English commonly shortens it to "donut," especially in branding.
Common pairings
glazed doughnut
jam doughnut
do a doughnut (in a car)
Word Forms
doughnutted past tense, doughnuted past tense, doughnuts plural, doughnuts singular
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Etymology
From dough plus nut — originally small, nut-sized fried dough balls; the now-familiar ring shape became standard in the 20th century. First recorded in Washington Irving's writing in 1809.