cereal
gb/sˈɪɹiəl/ us/sˈɪɹiəl/
A2
English
~ 7800
gabonapehely, gabona, gabonaféle
NOUN
A2
1
gabonapehely
B1
Usage pattern:
eat [cereal] for breakfast
She poured a bowl of cereal and added cold milk.
Töltött magának egy tál gabonapelyhet, majd hideg tejet öntött rá.
We usually give the kids cereal on busy school mornings.
A zsúfolt iskolai reggeleken általában gabonapelyhet adunk a gyerekeknek.
Do you prefer sweet cereal or something more plain?
He ate cereal straight from the box as a late-night snack.
This cereal stays crunchy even in milk.
Learner examples
I eat cereal and milk every morning.
Minden reggel gabonapelyhet eszem tejjel.
He buys a big box of cereal every week.
Minden héten vesz egy nagy doboz gabonapelyhet.
The children like sweet cereal with chocolate.
She puts fruit on her cereal.
We had cereal for dinner because we were tired.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse "cereal" with "serial". "Cereal" is food; "serial" is something that happens in a series (e.g., serial number, TV serial). Another mistake is saying "I eat cereals" when talking about breakfast in general; in this sense, English usually uses the uncountable form: "I eat cereal for breakfast."
Meaning
processed grain breakfast food
Collocations
breakfast cereal
|a bowl of cereal
|box of cereal
|cereal box
|eat cereal
|cold cereal
Synonyms
muesli (A specific type of cereal mixture, often less processed and eaten with milk or yogurt.)
Antonyms
eggs (A common non-grain breakfast food, often contrasted with cereal as a breakfast choice.)
Themes
food
|daily life
|food_drink
|daily_life
|core_vocabulary
Definition
A food made from grain that people usually eat with milk in the morning.
A processed food made from grains, usually eaten cold with milk for breakfast.
NOUN
B1
2
gabona
B1
gabonaféle
B2
Usage pattern:
grow [cereal] on [land]
Wheat and barley are important cereal crops in this region.
A búza és az árpa fontos gabonafélék ezen a vidéken.
The government is investing in research to improve cereal yields.
A kormány kutatásokba fektet be a gabonahozamok növelése érdekében.
Most of the farm is used to grow cereals rather than vegetables.
Drought conditions have damaged cereal production this year.
Maize is the main cereal grown by small farmers in the area.
Learner examples
Farmers grow many cereal crops here.
A gazdák sokféle gabonát termesztenek itt.
Rice is an important cereal in Asia.
A rizs fontos gabonaféle Ázsiában.
The field is full of green cereal plants.
They sell cereals like wheat and corn to the mill.
The price of cereal crops went up last year.
Common mistake:
Learners often know only the breakfast meaning and may not recognize that "cereal" can also mean the plant itself. In this sense, "cereals" is usually plural when talking about different types or large-scale farming: "They grow cereals," not "They grow cereal" when you mean several kinds.
Meaning
grain crop plant like wheat
Collocations
cereal crops
|cereal plants
|cereal farming
|cereal production
|cereal fields
|cereal agriculture
Synonyms
grain crop (A more general term; emphasizes the crop grown for grain rather than the botanical group of cereals.)
Antonyms
legume (Refers to plants like beans and lentils, which are a different major crop group from cereals.)
Themes
agriculture
|food
|environment
|nature
|food_drink
Definition
A type of plant, like wheat or rice, that farmers grow for its seeds, which people eat.
A grass plant such as wheat, rice, or corn that is grown for its edible grain.
NOUN
B2
TECHNICAL
3
gabonaféle
B2
gabona
B1
Usage pattern:
eat [cereal] as a staple food
Whole-grain cereals are recommended as part of a healthy diet.
Az egészséges étrend részeként a teljes kiőrlésű gabonafélék fogyasztását ajánlják.
Many breakfast products are made from refined cereals.
Sok reggelire fogyasztott termék finomított gabonafélékből készül.
In many countries, cereals provide most of the daily energy intake.
The study compared the nutritional value of different cereals and legumes.
Cereals and vegetables form the base of this traditional diet.
Learner examples
People eat a lot of cereals like rice and wheat.
Az emberek sok gabonafélét esznek, például rizst és búzát.
Whole-grain cereals are better for your health.
A teljes kiőrlésű gabonafélék egészségesebbek.
Many poor families live mainly on cereals.
Cereals give the body a lot of energy.
Bread is made from cereals such as wheat.
Common mistake:
Learners may not realize this more general, nutritional meaning and think only of boxed breakfast cereal. In this sense, "cereals" is often plural when talking about several types or about them as a group in nutrition: "Cereals are rich in carbohydrates."
Meaning
edible grain seeds as food
Collocations
whole-grain cereals
|refined cereals
|fortified cereals
|cereal-based products
|cereal consumption
|cereal grains
Synonyms
grain (A near-equivalent term, though "grain" can also refer to seeds of non-cereal plants in some contexts.)
Antonyms
protein (In nutrition, cereals are mainly sources of carbohydrates, often contrasted with protein-rich foods.)
Themes
food
|nutrition
|science
|food_drink
|core_vocabulary
|daily_life
Definition
The seeds from plants like wheat and rice that people eat as a main food.
The edible grain from cereal plants, such as wheat, rice, or corn, especially when considered as a basic food group.
Grammar
Dictionary form
cereal
IPA
GB/sˈɪɹiəl/
US/sˈɪɹiəl/
Syllables & stress
cer - eal (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (cer)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: cereal
- Plural: cereal, cereals
Word family
Forms
cereals
noun
Related words
grain
noun B1
granola
noun
Expressions
breakfast cereal
1/bɹˈɛkfəst sˈɪɹiəl/
fixed phrase
grain food eaten at breakfast
Cereal that people usually eat in the morning, often from a box with milk.
Examples
- The supermarket has an entire aisle for breakfast cereal.
- She tries to choose a breakfast cereal that is low in sugar.
- Many children want breakfast cereal with cartoon characters on the box.
cereal bar
1/sˈɪɹiəl bˈɑɹ/
fixed phrase
snack bar made from cereals
A sweet bar made from cereal and other things like sugar, fruit, or chocolate, eaten as a snack.
Examples
- He grabbed a cereal bar on his way to work.
- Cereal bars are often marketed as a healthy snack.
- She keeps a cereal bar in her bag in case she gets hungry.