DOUGHNUT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does doughnut mean? 

• DOUGHNUT (noun)
  The noun DOUGHNUT has 2 senses:

1. a toroidal shape

2. a small ring-shaped friedcake

  Familiarity information: DOUGHNUT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DOUGHNUT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A toroidal shape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

anchor ring; annulus; doughnut; halo; ring

Context example:

a halo of smoke

Hypernyms ("doughnut" is a kind of...):

toroid (the doughnut-shaped object enclosed by a torus)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "doughnut"):

fairy circle; fairy ring (a ring of fungi marking the periphery of the perennial underground growth of the mycelium)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small ring-shaped friedcake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

donut; doughnut; sinker

Hypernyms ("doughnut" is a kind of...):

friedcake (small cake in the form of a ring or twist or ball or strip fried in deep fat)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "doughnut"):

raised doughnut (a doughnut made light with yeast rather than baking powder)

 Context examples 

If the doughnut is observed from above or below, face-on, the black hole is clearly visible.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

"These doughnuts may eventually have medical applications as active materials," said Igor Aronson of Penn State.

(Tiny swimming 'doughnuts' deliver the biomedical goods, National Science Foundation)

The researchers found evidence that something other than a doughnut structure may, in some circumstances, determine whether a black hole is visible or hidden.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

Platinum will not stick to the plastic micro-doughnuts, but nickel will, and platinum will stick to nickel.

(Tiny swimming 'doughnuts' deliver the biomedical goods, National Science Foundation)

The team has not yet determined what this may be, but the results suggest the unified, or doughnut, model does not have all the answers.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

Also, nickel is magnetic, so the researchers can manipulate the doughnuts with magnetic fields.

(Tiny swimming 'doughnuts' deliver the biomedical goods, National Science Foundation)

According to theory, since the doughnut structures would take on random orientations, the black holes should also be distributed randomly.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

The researchers want the doughnuts to behave like living organisms — to swim in water and respond to signals.

(Tiny swimming 'doughnuts' deliver the biomedical goods, National Science Foundation)

For example, if the doughnut is positioned so that we see it edge-on, the black hole is hidden from view.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

Depending on how these "doughnuts" are oriented in space, the black holes will take on various appearances.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)