salad

American  

[sal-uhd] / ˈsæl əd /

noun

1. a usually cold dish consisting of vegetables, as lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, covered with a dressing and sometimes containing seafood, meat, or eggs.

2. any of various dishes consisting of foods, as meat, seafood, eggs, pasta, or fruit, prepared singly or combined, usually cut up, mixed with a dressing, and served cold.

   chicken salad; potato salad.

3. any herb or green vegetable, as lettuce, used for salads or eaten raw.

4. South Midland and Southern U.S. greens.

5. any mixture or assortment.

   The usual salad of writers, artists, and musicians attended the party.

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salad British  

/ ˈsæləd /

noun

1. a dish of raw vegetables, such as lettuce, tomatoes, etc, served as a separate course with cold meat, eggs, etc, or as part of a main course

2. any dish of cold vegetables or fruit

   potato salad

   fruit salad

3. any green vegetable used in such a dish, esp lettuce

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Etymology

Origin of salad

1350–1400; Middle English salad ( e ) < Middle French salade < Old Provençal salada < Vulgar Latin *salāta, feminine past participle of *salāre to salt, equivalent to sal-, stem of sāl salt ¹ + -āta -ate ¹

Explanation

A salad is a dish that's usually cold and often includes lettuce or other greens. However, some salads don't have any greens but instead have lots of mayo — like tuna salad or chicken salad. While your idea of a salad might be iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, croutons, and a creamy dressing, salads come in many different forms. You can make a pasta salad or a tuna salad or an egg salad. Other salads are based on big pieces of bread, or meat, or cheese — and still others are dessert salads made with gelatin or whipped cream and fruit. Salad comes from the Latin phrase herba salata, or "salted vegetables."

Example Sentences

Among more veggie-oriented peers, both Chopt and Just Salad offer wraps.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

He grew up in Salinas Valley, nicknamed America’s Salad Bowl because of its heavy agricultural production, and founded Taylor Fresh Foods in 1995.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026

Fast-casual chains Just Salad and Cava recently signed leases to open at the property, Mooallem said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025

The valley is where, in 1970, Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers launched their Salad Bowl strike, the largest farmworker labor action in U.S. history.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025

Salad leaves are in a bowl covered with dampened paper towels.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Related Words

• potato salad