bisque
/bɪsk/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms bisques bisquing bisqued bisk
- noun A thick creamy soup made from fish, shellfish, meat or vegetables. “lobster bisque”
- noun A pale pinkish brown colour.
- noun (ceramics) A form of unglazed earthenware; biscuit.
- adjective Of a pale pinkish brown colour.
- verb (transitive) To prepare ceramics in the bisque style.
- noun (sports) An extra turn, free point or some other advantage allowed.
- noun A free turn in a handicap croquet match.
- noun A free point in a handicap real tennis match.
- noun (chiefly BBC, historical) A day's leave an employee may take without warning or reason and not be counted as annual leave.
- noun (British parliament) Permission for an MP to be absent from a vote, granted by the whips when the absence is not likely to affect the outcome.
Etymology
Borrowed from French bisque, possibly from Biscaye.
Borrowed from French bisque, of unknown origin; Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, suggests a comparison with Spanish bisca (“gambling house, gambling den”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Unglazed white porcelain.
- noun A point taken by the receiver of odds in the game of tennis; also, an extra innings allowed to a weaker player in croquet.
- noun A white soup made of crayfish.
Etymology [A corruption of biscuit.]
Etymology [F.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bisque”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details