noun · neutral
spice
/spaɪs/SPICE
Band 4-5speakingtask2
A substance (often dried seeds, berries, bark or roots) used to flavour food; also used collectively for spicy ingredients.
Examples
“Add a pinch of spice to bring out the flavour.”
“Cinnamon and nutmeg are warm spices.”
“She buys whole spices and grinds them fresh.”
Band 8 sentence
“I prefer to use whole spices and toast them briefly to release more aroma before grinding.”
Collocations
- ground spice
- add spice
- a pinch of spice
Word family
spice nspicy adjspiced adj
Common mistakes
This food is very spice.→This food is very spicy.
Add some spices to taste.→Add some spice to taste.
Say it for a higher band
5pepper→6seasoning→7+spice
Synonyms
seasoning
Easily confused
seasoning
“She added seasoning—salt and pepper—to finish the dish.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Food & Cooking
Learn it with its set