Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - cream

~1 n 1 a thick yellowish-white liquid that rises to the top of milk  (Have some cream in your coffee. | strawberries and cream) 2 a food containing this  (cream of chicken soup | cream cakes) 3 a thick soft substance that you put on your skin in order to make it soft, treat a medical condition etc  (Put some sun cream on before you go out.) 4 the cream of the cream of a group of people are the best people in that group  (a team representing the cream of Britain's young athletes) ~2 adj yellowish-white in colour  (a cream coloured carpet) - cream n ~3 v 1 to make something into a thick soft mixture  (Cream the butter and sugar together. | creamed potatoes) 2 to take cream from the surface of milk 3 AmE informal to defeat someone completely cream sb/sth off phr v to choose the best people or things from a group, especially so that you can use them for your own advantage  (We cream off the best athletes and put them into a special squad.)