hamburger

plural hamburgers · alternative dated hamburgher

1. countableuncountableA hot sandwich consisting of a patty of cooked ground beef or a meat substitute, in a sliced bun, usually also containing salad vegetables, condiments, or both.

   Synonyms: beefburger, liberty sandwich

2. Ingridents used in this type of sandwich:
   1. countableuncountableThe patty used in such a sandwich.

      Synonyms: hamburger patty

   2. uncountableGround beef, especially that intended to be made into hamburgers.
3. UScolloquialcountableuncountablesomewhat crudeAn animal or human, or the flesh thereof, that has been badly injured as a result of an accident or conflict.

   The truck hit the deer and turned it into hamburger.

   1 more example

   I'm going to make you into hamburger if you do that again.

4. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountablecomputingEllipsis of hamburger button.
5. UScountableinformaluncountableeducationDescribing the shape of a rectangular piece of paper folded in half so that it forms a short rectangle.

present singular third person hamburgers · participle present hamburgering · participle past hamburgered · past hamburgered · alternative dated hamburgher

1. informaltransitiveTo badly injure or damage (a fleshy part of the body).

   My tears are like gagged pieces of ice cutting up my eyeballs and hamburgering my face.

   1994, Beatrice Sparks (falsely indicated as editor), It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager, a True Story from Her Diary, Avon Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 133

   5 more examples

   The men played baseball on coral diamonds that tore their shoes and clothes and hamburgered their hands.

   1944, C. G. Morris, Hugh B. Cave, “The Fightin’est Ship”: The Story of the Cruiser “Helena”, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, page 62

   And his tires triggered no Claymore mines or Bouncing Betties that might have hamburgered his vehicle with him in it.

   1981, John Nichols, The Nirvana Blues, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 283

   It’s a trail that has taken more than its fair share of blood, my first flat tire, and hamburgered my entire forearm on a descent.

   2014, Shannon Galpin, Mountain to Mountain: A Journey of Adventure and Activism for the Women of Afghanistan, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 47

   Ken broke three fingers and hamburgered his legs, but he still got to his feet, chased down his burro, and continued on to the finish line.

   2019, Christopher McDougall, Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 51

   Why they didn’t both break their necks or get hamburgered by cloven hooves was a mystery.

   2020, Lynn Stansbury, Crossing the Divide, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse

plural Hamburgers

1. A person from Hamburg.

   Synonyms: Hamburgian