Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A pasta of North African origin made of crushed and steamed semolina.
- n. A North African dish consisting of pasta steamed with a meat and vegetable stew.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A favorite west African dish, consisting of flour, flesh or fowls, oil, and the leaves of Adansonia digitata, or baobab. Also called by the natives lalo.
- n. The native name of a kind of phalanger, the spotted phalanger of the Moluccas. Also written coescoes. See Cuscus.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A kind of food used by the natives of Western Africa, made of millet flour with flesh, and leaves of the baobab; -- called also
lalo .
WordNet 3.0
- n. a spicy dish that originated in northern Africa; consists of pasta steamed with a meat and vegetable stew
- n. a pasta made in northern Africa of crushed and steamed semolina
Etymologies
- First attested circa 16th century, from French, from Arabic كسكس (kuskus) from Tamazight ⵙⴽⵙⵓ (seksu). (Wiktionary)
- French, from Arabic kuskus, from kaskasa, to pulverize; see kšš in Semitic roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word couscous also refers to the feast meal itself, typically a platter of couscous served alongside a richly spiced stew of beef or lamb and vegetables.”
“Stir cilantro in couscous and serve with salmon and broccoli drizzled with olive oil.”
Weight-Loss Challenge dinner: Maple-lime salmon and couscous
“But on the Mediterranean's southern coast, couscous is the carb of choice, dried fruits abound, and lemon juice replaces vinegar (a blessing for migraine sufferers like myself.)”
“When the couscous is cooked, stir in the juice of a lemon, lots of chopped parsley or coriander, black pepper and chopped roasted veg (peppers, aubergine, courgette).”
“You fucked up the potatoes, you can't even manage to heat your own damn house, the couscous is clumpy, there's a crazy animal in a cage over there, my child has a split lip and peed on me, then ate my fucking lobster, and now you're trying to take away my cauliflower?!”
“We tossed with less couscous for the adults the second night -- the kids liked a lot of couscous, which is the ratio you see in the pictures.”
“The smallest is couscous, which is actually a pasta made from semolina or whole wheat flour.”
“Israeli couscous aka pearl couscous, supercouscous, Israeli toasted pasta, and maftoul is larger, chewier, and nuttier than the kind usually found on supermarket shelves.”
“On a food note, if you serve it with giant couscous, which is my new favourite thing, then you get double roundness.”
“The most widely available form found in stores is the pearled, hulled type, although you may often be able to find traditional couscous, which is made from cracked millet.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘couscous’.
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The Pasta Master
My favourite is potato
gnocchi,interesting that lists
devoted to pasta exclusively
missed pasta puttanesca,those who
really textually mine dictionaries
would not miss...manicotti, spaggers, stelline, spaghettini, spag, linguine, fettuccine, penne, rigatoni, mezzani, zita, spaghetti and 391 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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Reduples
Go for it, brothers and sisters! I personally have been suffering long for lack of an open reduplicatives list
happy clappy, bribble-brabble, diddle-daddle, hugger-mugger, kikiriki, Bora-Bora, mahi-mahi, jingle-jangle, knick-knack paddy..., chit-chat, bon-bon, clapperclaw and 292 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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Fun to Say
Non-English is okay, but please don't add misspellings.
writhe, quibble, smock, festival, carnival, unicycle, panorama, mammogram, explicit, prehensile, pseudonym, antonym and 18 more...
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double-take
the same word twice with two different meanings for each word and reduplications
sweet sweet, number number, side side, sing sing, by by, sitting sitting, light light, so so, rare rare, medium medium, card card, word word and 41 more...
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vegan
vegan food list of basic vegan food or types of vegan food you've had and liked.
( food, cuisine, eating, health, vegan, vegetarian, animal rights, anti-cruelty, no meat, herbivore, s...tofu, hummus, falafel, cookie, soy, nuts, fruit, burrito, veggie burger, soy cheese, rice, pasta and 52 more...
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Foodie
As much fun to say as they are to eat.
blueberry, cider, almond, apricot, asparagus, banana, fudge, foldover, flapjacks, filbert, fig, biscuit and 217 more...
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billfence's Words
quotidian, flux, sawbuck, horsefeathers, chalcedony, harp, no, fox, tennis, badminton, flue, charm and 186 more...
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imogen's Words
coagitate, cloche, harum-scarum, foxglove, cryptolect, cant, roux, angora, duff, ulysse, schadenfreude, pepperpot and 315 more...
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Pasta la Vista
Because John's and colleen's and Lampbane's lists are their own, and they're such pasta hogs I have to make sure I get some for myself. :)
Includes noodles and other noodle-based items...zituane, rotini, rigati, marziani, salamini, fagioletti, eliche grandi, eliche, elefante, rotellini, rotelli, ziti and 296 more...
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elizacole's Words
isomorphic, endemic, tmesis, fillip, antedate, avoirdupois, jeremiad, hypnagogic, antediluvian, fuck, reification, raconteur and 251 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Grounded Words
an Eckhartian exercise of grinding
grind, grist, refrain, ground, grit, mitochondrion, groats, grout, gruel, great, gruesome, gravel and 162 more...
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Interesting Foods
smelt, sprat, caviar, sushi, papadum, garlic naan, injera, doro wat, miso, pho, edamame, tataki and 170 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for couscous.

dailyword One of my author friends on Fanfiction.net made this for her dinner last night. Jul 15, 2012
frogapplause I bet reesetee looks silly eating couscous, too. ♡ Aug 19, 2009
bilby maftoul. Aug 19, 2009
reesetee I always feel silly saying couscous.
Come to think of it, I always feel silly eating couscous. Mar 6, 2008
trivet Mmmm - I like couscous - fun to say and eat. Mar 6, 2008
seanahan There's a commercial from a couple years ago where they say "Don't be such a couch couscous", and it has stuck in my head. Disgusting stuff, I have to say. Mar 6, 2008
muamor Couscous (from the Berber word k'seksu) is the staple product of North Africa and the national dish of the countries of Maghrib, that is, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Couscous spread from this area, where it originated, to Libya, Mauritania, Egypt, and to sub-Saharan countries. Couscous is also consumed in the Middle East, where it is called mughrabiyya.
http://www.geocities.com/tdcastros/Historyserver/papers/cuscus.htm
Mar 5, 2008
fbharjo pulverized Jan 13, 2008