pizza

"Pizza" is a noun with essentially one main meaning in English — it refers to a popular dish originally from Italy. It's a word almost everyone knows, but there are a couple of useful ways it gets used.

1nounthe dish

Pizza is a round, flat bread base topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients like vegetables or meat, then baked in an oven. Think of it as an open sandwich that has been baked flat. It originally comes from Italy but is now eaten all over the world.

food and everyday language · Modern, widely used

We ordered a large pizza with mushrooms and peppers for dinner.

She made a homemade pizza using fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

The restaurant is famous for its thin-crust pizza.

2nouna portion or quantity

In everyday conversation, people often say 'a pizza' to mean one whole pizza, or use it to talk about how much they ate. You might also hear 'a slice of pizza' for one piece. The word can refer to the food in general or to a specific one you ordered.

everyday language · Modern, widely used

Can we get two pizzas? I don't think one will be enough for everyone.

He ate half a pizza by himself while watching the game.

I only had one slice of pizza, so I'm still hungry.