lard / lärd/ • n. fat from the abdomen of a pig that is rendered and clarified for use in cooking. ∎ inf. excess human fat that is seen as unhealthy and unattractive.• v. [tr.] 1. insert strips of fat or bacon in (meat) before cooking. ∎  smear or cover (a foodstuff) with lard or fat, typically to prevent it from drying out during storage.2. (usu. be larded with) embellish (talk or writing) with a variety of expressions: his conversation is larded with quotations from Coleridge. ∎  cover or fill thickly or excessively: the pages were larded with corrections and crossings-out.DERIVATIVES: lard·y adj.

lard Rendered fat from pig carcasses (sheep and cattle are also used). The best quality is from the fat surrounding the kidneys; neutral lard is the highest quality, prepared by agitating the minced fat with water at a temperature below 50 °C; kidney fat provides No. 1 quality; back fat provides No. 2 quality.

Leaf lard is made from the residue of kidney and back fat after the preparation of neutral lard by heating with water above 100 °C in an autoclave. Prime Steam Lard is fat from any part of the carcass, rendered in the autoclave.

Lard used to be stored in pig's bladder, hence the expression ‘bladder of lard’ for a grossly obese person.

lard †(fat) bacon or pork; internal fat of swine's abdomen. XV. —(O)F. lard bacon :- L. lār(i)dum; cf. Gr. lārīnós fat.
So lard vb. XIV. larder XIV. —AN. larder, OF. -ier, medL. lardārium.