soup
Americannoun
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soups
plural
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a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, or vegetables with various added ingredients.
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Slang. a thick fog.
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Slang. added power, especially horsepower.
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Slang. nitroglycerin.
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Photography Slang. developing solution.
verb phrase
idioms
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in the soup, in trouble.
He'll be in the soup when the truth comes out.
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from soup to nuts,
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from the first through the last course of a meal.
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from beginning to end; to a complete, encompassing degree; leaving nothing out.
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noun
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a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, vegetables, etc, usually served hot at the beginning of a meal
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informal a photographic developer
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informal anything resembling soup in appearance or consistency, esp thick fog See also peasouper
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a slang name for nitroglycerine
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informal in trouble or difficulties
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of soup
1645–55; 1940–45 soup for def. 6; < French soupe, Old French souppe, sope < Germanic; compare Dutch sopen to dunk. See sop
Explanation
Soup is a liquid or thick, creamy food that's usually hot and savory. If you have a sore throat, your grandma might make you a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup. Most soup is made by cooking vegetables, beans, meat, or fish (or a combination of these) in water for a long time. Sometimes soup is thickened with cream or flour, or by pureeing some of the ingredients. Certain soups, like gazpacho and vichyssoise, are served cold, and others are sweet and made with fruit. You may hear people describe a dense, thick fog as "pea soup" or use the phrase "soup to nuts" to mean "everything."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It's light - weighing little more than a can of soup.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Soybean oil appears in salad dressings, mayonnaise, baked goods, infant formula, snacks and fried foods; soy lecithin emulsifies chocolate and bread; and soy protein fortifies energy bars, breakfast cereals and canned soup.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Friends are welcome to send mittens, ski caps and hot soup when the snow comes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Meanwhile, the company called out strength in its soup business, although consumption slipped for its condensed and ready-to-serve offerings.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
More sandwiches were served, with soup this time, and more tea and cake.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
When dried and salted, guitarfish is used in soups and stews across Ghana.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
In Burbank, family-run Tun Lahmajo delves into Armenian homestyle dishes, including flatbreads, cold salads, roasted meats, a range of soups and herbed stews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Recently, in an effort to slim down my expenses, I’ve been reaching for more canned goods — notably, soups.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
Subs are offered alongside made-to-order smoothies, soups and soft pretzels—a favorite item of Tyler Gyurisin, a Wawa superfan from New Jersey, whose devotion to the chain has gone viral.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
He wished that he had been less resentful of Mama’s strong-smelling soups.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
