Standard Lemma guide

knish

noun · 2 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.

  • /kəˈnɪʃ/
  • /knɪʃ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪʃ

1

noun

Meaning 1

An Eastern European Jewish, or Yiddish, snack food consisting of a dumpling covered with a shell of baked or fried dough

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(Yiddish) a baked or fried turnover filled with potato or meat or cheese; often eaten as a snack

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: turnover

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish קניש (knish), from Polish knysz and Ukrainian книш (knyš).

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: кныш (knyš) — an Eastern European Jewish, or Yiddish, snack food
  • Hebrew: קְנִישׁ (k'nísh) — an Eastern European Jewish, or Yiddish, snack food
  • Polish: knysz — an Eastern European Jewish, or Yiddish, snack food
  • Russian: кныш (knyš) — an Eastern European Jewish, or Yiddish, snack food
  • Ukrainian: книш (knyš) — an Eastern European Jewish, or Yiddish, snack food
  • Yiddish: קניש (knish) — an Eastern European Jewish, or Yiddish, snack food