Definition of "biscuit" []

• A small cake of shortened bread leavened with baking powder or soda. (noun)
• Chiefly British A thin, crisp cracker. (noun)
• Chiefly British A cookie. (noun)
• A pale brown. (noun)
• Clay that has been fired once but not glazed. Also called bisque2. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Query: If the biscuit should be boiled in the milk, or milk merely poured over the biscuit_ -- "Here he glanced up, and seeing the anguish on the hunchback's face, handed back the book."
• "It looks like the term biscuit comes from the French "bis" "cuit" or "twice cooked" ... which works for both sweet and savory varieties."
• "For instance, the word "cookie" descends to us from the Dutch - the British use the word biscuit."