noun · verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈhæmˌbɜː.ɡə/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈhæm.bə.ɡə/
General-American:/ˈhæmˌbɜɹ.ɡɚ/
General-American:/ˈhæm.bəɹ.ɡɚ/
/ˈhæmˌbʊɹ.ɡəɹ/Dublin
/ˈhæmˌbʊɹ.ɡɐ/Dublin
/ˈhæm.bəɹ.ɡəɹ/Dublin
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æmbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)
rhymes with -æmbə(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈhæmbɜːɡə/
General-American:/ˈhæmbɝɡɚ/
Midwestern-US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:HH AE1 M B ER0 G ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A 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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: beefburger, liberty sandwich
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: burger
2
noun
Meaning 2
Ingridents used in this type of sandwich:
The patty used in such a sandwich.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hamburger patty
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Ingridents used in this type of sandwich:
Ground beef, especially that intended to be made into hamburgers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An animal or human, or the flesh thereof, that has been badly injured as a result of an accident or conflict.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, colloquial, countable, uncountable
Qualifier: somewhat crude
Examples
The truck hit the deer and turned it into hamburger.
I'm going to make you into hamburger if you do that again.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Ellipsis of hamburger button.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
Describing the shape of a rectangular piece of paper folded in half so that it forms a short rectangle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, countable, informal, uncountable
Topics: education
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A person from Hamburg.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Hamburgian
Antonyms: none provided
8
verb
Meaning 8
To badly injure or damage (a fleshy part of the body).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
noun
Meaning 9
beef that has been ground
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ground beef
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: beef, boeuf
10
noun
Meaning 10
a sandwich consisting of a fried cake of minced beef served on a bun, often with other ingredients
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: beefburger, burger
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sandwich
Narrower terms: cheeseburger
History
Etymology
Shortening of Hamburger sandwich, Hamburger steak, etc., the first element borrowed from German Hamburger (“native of Hamburg”), equivalent to Hamburg + -er.
From Hamburg + -er.
Across languages
Translations
187 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
hamburger
— sandwich
Albanian:
hamburger
— sandwich
Amharic:
ሀምበርገር
(hämbärgär)
— sandwich
Western Apache:
itsį’ ik’aaní
— sandwich
Arabic:
هَامْبُرْغَر
(hāmburḡar)
— sandwich
Arabic:
هَامْبُورْجَر
(hāmbūrjar)
— sandwich
Arabic:
بُرْغَر
(burḡar)
— sandwich
Armenian:
համբուրգեր
(hamburger)
— sandwich
Armenian:
բուրգեր
(burger)
— sandwich
Asturian:
hamburguesa
— sandwich
Azerbaijani:
qamburqer
— sandwich
Azerbaijani:
hamburqer
— sandwich
Basque:
hanburgesa
— sandwich
Belarusian:
га́мбургер
(hámburhjer)
— sandwich
Bengali:
হ্যামবার্গার
(hêmbargar)
— sandwich
Bulgarian:
ха́мбургер
(hámburger)
— sandwich
Burmese:
ဟမ်ဘာဂါ
(hambhaga)
— sandwich
Catalan:
hamburguesa
— sandwich
Chinese Cantonese:
漢堡 /汉堡
(hon3 bou2)
— sandwich
Chinese Cantonese:
漢堡包 /汉堡包
(hon3 bou2 baau1)
— sandwich