Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An agent that causes rising, fermentation, or ferment; leaven.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of making light by means of leaven; the act of exciting fermentation in anything.
  • noun That which leavens or makes light.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of making light, or causing to ferment, by means of leaven.
  • noun That which leavens or makes light.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective made light by aeration
  • noun a leavening agent

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquid
  • noun an influence that works subtly to lighten or modify something

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The men were mostly Swiss, but with a leavening from the German states, and they were a sober, steady battalion that Wellesley planned to lead to the Inner Palace to protect its contents and its harem from the ravages of the attackers.

    Sharpe's Tiger Cornwell, Bernard 1997

  • Ministers are employed in leavening places, in leavening souls, with the gospel.

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John) 1721

  • Regarding the coconut cake, all the ingredients technically are kosher for Passover, but it hasn't been _certified_ basically, a rabbi checks to make sure that it's been made on equipment that's been completely cleansed of all leavening aka chametz.

    Passover these Wrecks Jen 2009

  • -- That but one man, and he with one leg, should have such ill power given him; his one sour word leavening into congenial sourness (as, to my knowledge, it did) the dispositions, before sweet enough, of a numerous company.

    The Confidence-Man 1857

  • -- That but one man, and he with one leg, should have such ill power given him; his one sour word leavening into congenial sourness (as, to my knowledge, it did) the dispositions, before sweet enough, of a numerous company.

    The Confidence-Man Herman Melville 1855

  • Jr. wrote to Dennett, "I am in entire sympathy with the idea of leavening the loaf."

    EphBlog 2009

  • So he should have a note of kind of leavening here.

    CNN Transcript Jul 14, 2002 2002

  • But the circle doesn't allow room for notes on some finesse elements for these prepartions, such as mixing method, how much salt, what kind of leavening, possible variations.

    A Whole Lotta Nothing 2009

  • But the circle doesn't allow room for notes on some finesse elements for these prepartions, such as mixing method, how much salt, what kind of leavening, possible variations.

    ruhlman.com 2009

  • As war novels go, it's a departure from the norm, leavening the gruesome depictions of combat with jokes, proverbs and stories from the lives the soldiers left behind.

    The King's Rifle: Summary and book reviews of The King's Rifle by Biyi Bandele. 2009

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