plural dumplings
1
a
: a small mass of dough cooked by boiling or steaming
chicken soup with dumplings
b
: a casing of dough enclosing a typically savory filling (such as meat or seafood) and cooked usually by boiling, steaming, or pan-frying see gyoza, pot sticker, wonton
c
: a usually baked dessert of fruit wrapped in dough
apple dumplings
2
: something soft and rounded like a dumpling
especially
: a plump person or animal often of short stature
"I wanted to do it [rowing] because it was something I had never heard of. I was a little dumpling as well. I wanted to lose weight." —
Spencer Turrin, quoted in The Daily Telegraph (England)
Spencer Turrin, quoted in The Daily Telegraph (England) Examples of dumpling in a Sentence
We had vegetarian dumplings as an appetizer.
Recent Examples on the Web
After years of traveling the country to serve dumplings at concerts like Coachella and Head in the Clouds, Drunken Dumpling co-owners Crystal Huynh-Kim and Charley Phung shifted to a business that could keep them in Sacramento with their baby.
—Sacbee.com, 14 July 2025
Dishes such as beef stew with speck dumplings or Wienerschnitzel in butter breaded veal cutlet, with roasted potatoes and cranberry jam, are big favorites.
—Paul Caputo, Forbes.com, 4 July 2025
The menu includes raw bar offerings and other starters such as pork belly dumplings and jalapeno cornbread waffles.
—Shannon Greene, Charlotte Observer, 27 June 2025
Tiny dumplings made with egg, flour and potatoes, deftly rolled off a fork, boiled, then smothered with tomato sauce and grated Parmesan.
—Irv Erdos, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dumpling
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Sacbee.com, 14 July 2025
Dishes such as beef stew with speck dumplings or Wienerschnitzel in butter breaded veal cutlet, with roasted potatoes and cranberry jam, are big favorites.
—Paul Caputo, Forbes.com, 4 July 2025
The menu includes raw bar offerings and other starters such as pork belly dumplings and jalapeno cornbread waffles.
—Shannon Greene, Charlotte Observer, 27 June 2025
Tiny dumplings made with egg, flour and potatoes, deftly rolled off a fork, boiled, then smothered with tomato sauce and grated Parmesan.
—Irv Erdos, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dumpling
Cite this Entry
“Dumpling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dumpling. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dumpling
noun
dump·ling
ˈdəm-pliŋ 
1
: a portion of dough cooked by boiling or steaming
2
: a dessert of fruit baked in biscuit dough
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