In British English, a biscuit is a small, flat, dry and usually sweet snack that people eat with tea. It isn't a light, airy cake: the soft cake used for layered cakes is called sponge or sponge cake.
biscuit: will you get the meaning right?
Write a sentence — we'll check that the word fits the meaning and explain any mistakes.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
a packet/tin of + biscuits; a chocolate/oat + biscuit; have a biscuit with + tea; a sponge (cake) (not a biscuit)
- There's always a tin of biscuits in our office kitchen, but it's empty by Wednesday.
- My son dipped a chocolate biscuit in his milk and got crumbs all over the table.
- At the guesthouse, they left tea, coffee and a few biscuits in our room.
What changed
First versionFor her birthday I baked a chocolate biscuit with cream between the layers.
RevisionFor her birthday I baked a chocolate sponge with cream between the layers.
In some languages a similar word means a soft, airy cake, but a British biscuit is dry and flat. The sentence sounds as if you baked one huge biscuit and filled it with cream. The soft layers for this kind of cake are sponge.
In American English, a biscuit is a soft, unsweetened bread roll eaten with butter or gravy: biscuits and gravy. Americans call a sweet biscuit a cookie. British people say cookie too, but usually for a big soft one: chocolate chip cookies.
Your turn
My grandmother's cake is incredibly light and airy: a soft vanilla ___ filled with strawberries and cream.
Show the answer
sponge — The cake is light and airy, with strawberries and cream inside. That kind of cake is a sponge. A biscuit is a dry, flat snack, and it's never light and airy.
Write about what you like to eat with tea or coffee. Name a particular biscuit and say when you usually eat it.
I love plain oat biscuits with my morning coffee, especially on busy days when I skip breakfast.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.