verb / noun · neutral
steam
/stiːm/STEAM
Band 5-6speakingtask2
to cook food by using steam (hot vapour); the hot vapour itself
Examples
“I usually steam vegetables to keep their vitamins.”
“The bathroom was full of steam.”
“Steam the dumplings for ten minutes.”
Band 8 sentence
“To retain the most nutrients, she prefers to steam greens lightly rather than overcook them in boiling water.”
Collocations
- steam vegetables
- steamed fish / steamed rice
- steam for (ten minutes)
Word family
steam verbsteamed adjective / past participlesteaming noun / adjective
Common mistakes
I steam the vegetables for two hours.→I steamed the vegetables for two minutes.
Steam the fish in a steamer on high.→Steam the fish in a steamer.
I steamed rice like boiling.→I cooked rice by steaming rather than boiling.
Say it for a higher band
5boil→6cook with steam→7+steam
Synonyms
boil
Easily confused
boil
“I boiled the vegetables for twenty minutes until they were soft.”
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