taste

I UK [teɪst] / US noun
Word forms "taste":
singular taste plural tastes
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1) [countable/uncountable] the flavour that something creates in your mouth when you eat or drink it

I love the taste of chocolate.

This peach has a sweeter taste than that one.

Our cheeses are very different in texture and taste.

Add salt to taste (= until you like the taste).

a) [singular] a small amount of food or drink that you eat or drink in order to see what flavour it has

Have a taste of this wine.

Would you like a taste?

b) [uncountable] your mouth's ability to notice the flavour of different foods and drinks

The illness can produce a loss of smell and taste.

sense of taste:

She doesn't have a very strong sense of taste.

2) [uncountable] the ability to judge if something is good or bad in things like art, fashion, and social behaviour

They all admired her taste.

Money cannot make up for bad taste and bad manners.

in good/bad/poor taste:

His joke about her divorce was in the worst possible taste.

3) [countable/uncountable] the types of thing that you like, for example in art, music, or clothes

Our tastes and interests are so different.

The meals are designed to accommodate all tastes.

I don't have expensive tastes (= I don't like expensive things).

The films appeal to popular taste (= what most people like).

taste in:

The girls share his taste in music.

have a taste for something:

Even at a young age he had a taste for books.

an acquired taste (= something that you must have many times before you start to like it):

Strong black coffee is an acquired taste.

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Collocations:
Verbs frequently used with taste as the object ▪  acquire, develop, get, have, indulge, share

4) [singular] a short experience of something that you are not used to

taste of:

After 16 years in prison, it was their first taste of freedom.

Enjoy a taste of Italy with writer Valentina Harris.

5) [singular] mainly literary the feeling that is created by an experience

I still remember the taste of fear from skydiving.

the sweet taste of revenge

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a bad/nasty/unpleasant taste in your mouth — informal if an experience leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth, you continue to feel unhappy or angry about it for a while

See:

account for 6), medicine

II UK [teɪst] / US verb
Word forms "taste":
present tense I/you/we/they taste he/she/it tastes present participle tasting past tense tasted past participle tasted
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1) [linking verb] to have a particular flavour. Food can taste sweet like sugar, salty like salt, sour like a lemon, or bitter like strong black coffee

taste good/bad/salty/sweet/delicious/awful etc:

Although the meal was cold, it tasted delicious.

The fish tasted just as good as it looked.

taste like:

This lemonade tastes more like water.

They taste a bit like chicken.

taste of:

These biscuits don't taste of ginger.

2)

a) [transitive] to eat or drink something and to experience its flavour

I've never tasted figs, but I've heard they're very nice.

The dinner was one of the best meals I have ever tasted.

b) to put a small amount of something in your mouth to see what type of flavour it has

Visitors will be able to taste different types of wines.

I've tasted the milk and it's definitely off.

3) [transitive] to experience something for a short time

taste success/failure/victory:

It is 13 years since they last tasted victory.

4) [transitive] mainly literary to realize what someone else is feeling or thinking

You could taste the fear in the room.

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- taste blood