Definition of "gingerbread" []

• A dark molasses cake flavored with ginger. (noun)
• A soft molasses and ginger cookie cut in various shapes, sometimes elaborately decorated. (noun)
• Elaborate ornamentation. (noun)
• Superfluous or tasteless embellishment, especially in architecture. (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.

• "Why not make a gingerbread man from... um..gingerbread?"
• "This would be a pinnacle year for us in gingerbread house construction."
• "You know, the ones where witches lived in gingerbread houses and tried to fatten Bavarian children up before eating them."