Dictionary

American cheese en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A common processed cheese, yellow or white in color and mild in flavor, with a medium-firm consistency.
   • The end result of such efforts is something akin to processed American cheese: smooth, odor-free and entirely without taste. 1977 August 13, Paula Bennet, “By Her Own Admission — Soap for Straights”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 6, page 9:
   • Look at that there fool playing dirty tricks He must be made of Teflon 'cause nothing ever sticks Dancing 'round the room while farting in the breeze Friends huff it down like it's American cheese 2022, “Follow the Fool”, performed by Primus:
   • Near-synonyms: rat-trap cheese, rat cheese, government cheese
   • Many of you other brothers can't deny that American cheese on white bread with yellow mustard is a guilty pleasure that reminds us of our childhood.
2. (countable, uncountable) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see American, cheese: any cheese made in America.
   • The opinions on importation of American wheat and steel did not seem as negative as those against importation of American cheese and beer.
   • After all, I’ve spent 15 years following the U.S. cheese scene, first as a lone blogger and now as an author of two cheese books, so I’ve put in my time as a turophile. I don’t let anyone conflate “American cheese” with Kraft Singles—not when there is so much good craft cheese being made stateside. Cheese has come a long way in the U.S. since its production became industrialized in the 1800s, when we began pooling our milk supply to pump out cheap factory-made blocks. It took a brave band of dairy dames in the 1970s and ’80s—fondly known as “the goat ladies” in cheese circles—to kick off a full-blown artisan movement around the country. 2026 February 25, Tenaya Darlington, “American Whey: With artisan cheesemakers in every corner of the country, there’s never been a better time to be a cheese lover in the U.S.”, in Food & Wine:

Forms

Hypernyms

cheese food · processed cheese · food · cheese

Synonyms

store cheese · rat-trap cheese · government cheese · rat cheese

Translations (9)

ro brânză americană (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · nl Amerikaanse kaas (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · de Toastkäse (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · uk Американський сир (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · sv amerikansk ost (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · de Sandwichkäse (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · ko 슬라이스 치즈 (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · pt queijo americano (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency) · fi sulatejuusto (common processed cheese with a medium-firm consistency)

wikidata: Q2671520