Senses: "Taste" Vocabulary

This statue is sticking out its tongue. Tongues are the main organ used for the sense of taste. (Image)

Good evening! It's Word Wednesday, so today I'd like to talk about vocabulary related to the sense of taste. In the last few weeks we've learned a lot of vocabulary related to other senses (sight, hearing, and smell) if you want to review those words, too.

First of all, the sense is called taste, and like the word "smell," taste can also be a verb or a noun. On Monday we examined how to use it as a verb. If you're using taste as a noun, a synonym can be flavor, but they're not exactly the same. Taste can be general, but flavor usually refers to a specific taste:

The guanabana fruit is one of my favorite foods in Costa Rica. It has a very unique taste. Its flavor is like a mixture of pineapple, mango, and milk, but with a texture that's different from all of them. (Photo by Ryan Sitzman)

If something has a good taste, you can say that it's tasty or flavorful. Other common words are delicious and yummy. If something has a bad taste or texture, you can say it's disgusting, gross, nasty, or awful. Or, if something tastes strange, you can say it tastes funny.

Of course, when you eat and taste food, it's a process. The first part of that is to take a bite of food (a piece) or to take a sip of a drink (a small amount of liquid). Another option, for example if you're eating ice cream, is to lick it with your tongue and bring the food into your mouth. If you're eating solid food, you probably need to chew it with your teeth (the plural form of "tooth"). The food will pass over your tongue, which is an organ covered in taste buds; these taste buds are basically little receptors that allow you experience the food's taste. Finally, you need to swallow your food, which means that you move your tongue and throat to pass the food from your mouth to your esophagus. After that, the food travels to your stomach, where your body digests it.

So, let's review today's vocabulary. Can you explain what each of the words means?

1. taste

2. flavor

3. tasty

4. flavorful

5. gross, nasty, disgusting

6. to taste funny

7. to take a bite

8. to take a sip

9. to lick

10. to chew

11. tooth, teeth

12. taste buds

13. to swallow

14. tongue

15. stomach

16. to digest

Here are some suggested definitions:

1. taste - to experience a flavor with your tastebuds
2. flavor - a noun; a synonym of "taste"
3. tasty - a way to describe food with a good flavor
4. flavorful - a way to describe food with a good or "complete" flavor
5. gross, nasty, disgusting - a way to describe food with a bad flavor
6. to taste funny - when food tastes strange
7. to take a bite - to eat a small piece of food
8. to take a sip - to drink a small amount of liquid
9. to lick - to touch your tongue to something, usually food
10. to chew - to use your teeth to break food into smaller pieces
11. tooth, teeth - the things you use to chew; tooth is singular, teeth is plural
12. taste buds - flavor receptors on your tongue
13. to swallow - move food from your mouth to your esophagus
14. tongue - the organ used for the sense of taste
15. stomach - where your body digests food
16. to digest - to break down something (usually food) into smaller parts

This cat is licking its paw, but not to clean itself. Cats lick their paws and bodies to clean themselves. (Image)

So, that's it for today. I hope you learned some new words and ideas! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me. Thanks for reading, and have a nice night!