cream

Universal Words noun, adjective, verb noun 1 [U] the thick pale yellowish-white FATTY liquid that rises to the top of milk, used in cooking or as a type of sauce to put on fruit, etc: strawberries and cream * Would you like milk or cream in your coffee? * fresh / whipped cream * (BrE) cream cakes (= containing cream) * (BrE) double / single (= thick / thin cream) seealsoBUTTERCREAM, CLOTTEDCREAM, ICECREAM, SALADCREAM, SOURCREAM, WHIPPINGCREAM 2 [C] (in compounds) a sweet/candy that has a soft substance like cream inside: a chocolate / peppermint cream 3 [U,C] a soft substance or thick liquid used on your skin to protect it or make it feel soft; a similar substance used for cleaning things: hand / moisturizing cream * antiseptic cream * a cream cleaner seealsoCOLDCREAM, FACECREAM, SHAVINGCREAM 4 [U] a pale yellowish-white colour: Do you have this blouse in cream? 5 the ~ of sth the best people or things in a particular group: the cream of New York society * the cream of the crop of this season's movies IDIOMS see CAT adjective pale yellowish-white in colour: a cream linen suit verb [VN] 1 to mix things together into a soft smooth mixture: Cream the butter and sugar together. 2 (AmE, informal) to completely defeat sb: We got creamed in the first round. PHRASALVERBS cream sb/sth<->off to take sth away, usually the best people or things or an amount of money, in order to get an advantage for yourself: The best students were creamed off by the grammar schools.