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cheese¹

(chēz)

a. A solid food prepared from the pressed curd of milk, often seasoned and aged.

b. A molded mass of this substance.

2. Something resembling this substance in shape or consistency.

[Middle English chese, from Old English cȳse, from Germanic *kasjus, from Latin cāseus.]

cheese²

(chēz)

tr.v. cheesed, chees·ing, chees·es
Slang

To stop.

Phrasal Verb:

cheese off Chiefly British Slang

To anger or irritate: The footballers were cheesed off by the referee's decision that cost them the game.

Idiom:

cheese it Slang

1. To look out. Often used in the imperative.

2. To get away fast; get going. Often used in the imperative.

[Origin unknown.]

cheese³

(chēz)

n.
Slang

An important person.

[Perhaps from Urdu chīz, thing, from Persian, from Old Persian *ciš-ciy, something; see k^wo- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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