despensa
pantry
Reviewed by: David WestfallCofounder
The small room where a household keeps its food
Encoding Strategies:
linguistic
visual
dispense
to hand out something
+
-a
noun suffix
Despensa means pantry and is related to the English word dispense0, since the pantry is where a household's food is kept and handed out.
despensa
pantry
The small room, closet, or cupboard in a house where food is stored.
Guardo el arroz y los frijoles en la despensaI keep the rice and the beans in the pantry
Mi abuela tenía una despensa fresca llena de conservasMy grandmother had a cool pantry full of preserves
stock of food, provisions, groceries (the food itself)
The food in the pantry rather than the pantry itself, meaning everything a household can "dispense" in order to eat.
Con la tormenta que viene, conviene tener una buena despensaWith the storm coming, it's worth having a good stock of food
La empresa reparte despensas a sus empleados cada mesThe company hands out provisions to its employees every month
grocery store, corner store (regional)
A small neighborhood shop that sells food and household basics, like a pantry that "dispenses" food to the whole block.
Voy a la despensa de la esquina por lecheI'm going to the grocery store on the corner for milk
En ese pueblo solo hay una despensa y cierra tempranoIn that town there is only one corner store and it closes early