Phrase guide

shish kebab

noun · 3 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.

  • UK: /ˌʃɪʃkəˈbæb/
  • US: /ˈʃɪʃkəbɑb/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A dish made of small pieces of meat, with or without vegetables, which are skewered on a wooden or metal stick and roasted in an oven or over an open fire.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A crystal structure consisting of a central spine (the shish) and disks or lumps growing out from it (the kebab).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: kabob, kebab

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dish

Narrower terms: souvlaki, souvlakia

History

Etymology

From Turkish şiş kebap, from şiş (“skewer”) + kebap (“kebab”).

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: shishqebap — roasted meat
  • Armenian: խորոված (xorovac) — roasted meat
  • Catalan: xix kebab — roasted meat
  • Chinese Mandarin: 中東烤肉 /中东烤肉 (zhōngdōng kǎoròu) — roasted meat
  • Czech: šiškebab — roasted meat
  • Dutch: shish kebab — roasted meat
  • Dutch: kebab — roasted meat
  • Dutch: sjaslik? — roasted meat
  • Dutch: sjasliek — roasted meat
  • Esperanto: ŝaŝliko — roasted meat
  • Estonian: šašlõkk — roasted meat
  • Finnish: shish kebab — roasted meat
  • French: chichekébab — roasted meat
  • German: schisch kebab — roasted meat
  • Greek: σις κεμπάπ (sis kempáp) — roasted meat
  • Indonesian: sate — roasted meat
  • Japanese: 焼き鳥 (yakitori) — roasted meat
  • Korean: 시시 케밥 (sisi kebap) — roasted meat
  • Macedonian: шиш-ќебап (šiš-ḱebap) — roasted meat
  • Persian: شیش کباب (šiš kabâb) — roasted meat
  • Polish: szaszłyk — roasted meat
  • Punjabi: شیش کباب (šiš kabāb) — roasted meat
  • Romanian: șiș chebap — roasted meat
  • Russian: шашлы́к (šašlýk) — roasted meat
  • Russian: шиш-кеба́б (šiš-kebáb) — roasted meat
  • Spanish: pincho — roasted meat
  • Turkish: şiş kebap — roasted meat
  • Turkish: şiş kebabı — roasted meat
  • Urdu: شیش کباب (śiś kabāb) — roasted meat
  • Welsh: cebab shish — roasted meat