shortcake

noun

short·​cake ˈshȯrt-ˌkāk 

1

: a crisp and often unsweetened biscuit or cookie

2

a

: a dessert made typically of very short baking-powder-biscuit dough spread with sweetened fruit

b

: a dish consisting of a rich biscuit split and covered with a meat mixture

Examples of shortcake in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Beyond standard coffee drinks and light bites, the café goes hard on seasonal specials like its pretty-as-can-be strawberry shortcake. —Iona Brannon, Travel + Leisure, 9 Jan. 2026

Enjoy eating them fresh, frozen, or dehydrated in recipes like strawberry shortcake for a yummy treat. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Jan. 2026

In the South, nothing says the early days of summer quite like bushels of strawberries ripening in the fields and farmers' markets waiting to be turned into strawberry shortcake. —Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 16 Dec. 2025

Other ways it could be used: with ice cream, yogurt, strawberry shortcake or a parfait. —Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shortcake

• awake
• backache
• beefsteak
• betake
• cheesecake
• cupcake
• daybreak
• earthquake
• eastlake
• forsake
• handshake
• headache

Kids Definition

shortcake

noun

short·​cake -ˌkāk 

: a dessert made of rich biscuit dough baked and served with sweetened fruit

strawberry shortcake