leaven

“Weapons” has something for everyone: jump scares for horrorphiles, nods to classics like “Rashomon” and “Magnolia” for film buffs, and more than a few laughs to leaven the tension.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025

An hour or two each week grappling with wood planks or mixing batter can leaven a long and monotonous school day.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023

In the evening we will start with the first dough and when it's complete we let it leaven and rise overnight.

From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2023

I found the embellishments that the directors devised — among them classic magic tricks with playing cards and levitation — leaven the play’s more plodding contrivances.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 26, 2023

For one thing, any hopes my father may have had that to meet the General in person would arouse a sense of respect or sympathy to leaven his feelings against him proved without foundation.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

A doleful tale, but Mr. Ogilvy also leavens it with humor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Whether the songs are presented in their orchestral splendor or as frenetic electronica, each needle drop leavens the natural comedy of John’s frantic awkwardness or captures his chronic sorrow.

From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2025

The yeast is tolerant of this acidic environment, and it ferments carbohydrates other than maltose to produce the carbon dioxide that leavens the bread.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 1, 2023

Pépin leavens his memoir with dozens of chicken and egg recipes, offhandedly told and casually inserted into the text.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 6, 2022

The great saints are immediate successes; the smaller ones are at least heralds and harbingers, and they may be leavens also, of a better mundane order.

From Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature by William James

This produced an effect of narcissism leavened by good-heartedness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

The series largely belongs to them — both actors are terrific, Shannon imbuing Garfield with a gravity leavened with kindness and humor, Macfadyen’s Guiteau, optimistically dedicated to his delusions yet always about to pop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025

And the clattering syncopated loop that repeats through “Oblivion” is there mostly as a contrast to the wispy and diaphanous vocals, which are so thin and leavened with reverb that they threaten to float away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025

What you might recognize as a modern-style fruitcake – a moist, leavened dessert studded with fruits and nuts – was probably first baked in the early Middle Ages in Europe.

From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2024

The guilt she feels at Gogol’s deflated expression is leavened by common sense.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

That engrossing yourself in every meticulous step — from measuring out your own leavening agents to bringing your butter and eggs to room temperature — is what qualifies as real baking.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026

The natural leavening gives them a lighter, crispier crust and an airy, mildly tangy crumb.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

You would think all the leavening would make it light, but the weight of the other ingredients created 4-pound pancakes, which were so thick that the inside could only cook if the outside was burnt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2023

“Temperature is part of the chemical reaction process for baked goods made with a leavening agent, such as baking powder,” nutrition and wellness educator Jenna Smith wrote for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign extension website.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2023

From morning to night, he displayed cool and reasoned leadership, with his humor leavening even the most difficult crisis.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela