A kind of unraised bread, of many varieties, plain, sweet, or fancy, formed into flat cakes, and bakes hard; as, ship biscuit.
A small loaf or cake of bread, raised and shortened, or made light with soda or baking powder. Usually a number are baked in the same pan, forming a sheet or card.
A small lump of bread, like a deformed roll, made from dough that has been rolled and then cut or else dropped from a spoon. The American usage is inaccurate since "biscuit" means "twice-cooked". What the British correctly refer to as a biscuit is called a "cracker" in the US.
small round bread leavened with baking-powder or soda
any of various small flat sweet cakes (`biscuit' is the British term)
(BISH-kiht) - In England, it is the equivalent of U.S. cookies (small, sweet cakes). In the U.S., a type of non-yeast bread made of flour, milk, and shortening, usually served with breakfast - small, and similar to what much of the world refers to as "scones."
A small bread made with flour, leavening and fat. In England, the term may be used to describe a cracker or cookie. Recipe: Buttermilk Biscuits
n. 1. Cookie. 2. Cracker, as in, "BISCUITS and cheese". Other types of BISCUITS include BATH OLIVERS, WATER BISCUITS, BOURBONS and DIGESTIVES.
If we separate the word biscuit in its two components, we get "bis", which means "twice" and "cuit", which means "cooked" in French. The biscuit was the staple food for seamen, and it was baked at least twice in order to dry properly. It was made from a bread dough kneaded by hand. Because it was flat like beach rocks, called "galets" in French, the "biscuit" was also called galette. The seaman's biscuit weighed 6 ounces and it was his entire meal.
cookie (if sweet); cracker (unsweetened)
A biscuit is a small baked bread or cake. The exact meaning varies markedly in different parts of the world, sometimes leading to confusion. The origin of the word "biscuit" is from Latin via Middle French and means "twice cooked".