leaven — OET · Shobdo

leaven

noun

leaven is added to the dough and the dough is left to rise:

leavening, ferment, fermentation agent, raising agent, yeast, barm, baking powder.

verb

1 the biscuits are light because they use both yeast and baking powder to leaven the flour:

raise, make rise, ferment, work, lighten, puff up, expand, swell, inflate.

2 his humour was sharp, but often leavened with a touch of self-mockery:

permeate, infuse, pervade, penetrate, imbue, suffuse, transform, modify;

enliven, lighten, quicken, inspire, stimulate, liven up, invigorate, vivify, ginger up, energize, electrify, galvanize, perk up, brighten up, cheer up, season, spice;

informal buck up, pep up, add zest to, add zing to.

leaven Oxford Dictionary of English