sauce

American  

[saws] / sɔs /

noun

1. any preparation, usually liquid or semiliquid, eaten as a gravy or as a relish accompanying food.

2. stewed fruit, often puréed and served as an accompaniment to meat, dessert, or other food.

   cranberry sauce.

3. something that adds piquance or zest.

4. Informal. sauciness; impertinence; impudence.

5. Slang. Usually the sauce hard liquor.

   He's on the sauce again.

6. Archaic. garden vegetables eaten with meat.

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verb (used with object)

sauced, saucing

1. to dress or prepare with sauce; season.

   meat well sauced.

2. to make a sauce of.

   Tomatoes must be sauced while ripe.

3. to give piquance or zest to.

4. to make agreeable or less harsh.

5. Informal. to speak impertinently or saucily to.

sauce British  

/ sɔːs /

noun

1. any liquid or semiliquid preparation eaten with food to enhance its flavour

2. anything that adds piquancy

3. stewed fruit

4. dialect vegetables eaten with meat

5. informal impudent language or behaviour

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verb

1. to prepare (food) with sauce

2. to add zest to

3. to make agreeable or less severe

4. informal to be saucy to

sauce Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sauce

• hit the bottle (sauce)

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Other Word Forms

• oversauce verb (used with object)
• sauceless adjective

Etymology

Origin of sauce

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin salsa, noun use of feminine of Latin salsus “salted,” past participle of sallere “to salt,” derivative of sāl “salt”; salt ¹

Example Sentences

The company is known by its red-capped bottled spices and rectangular tins and owns brands including French’s yellow mustard, Old Bay seasoning and Cholula hot sauce.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

In the 2000s, derivatives created from subprime mortgages were accorded top credit ratings; now, the so-called illiquidity premium on portfolios of loans to small and midsize private companies is considered their secret sauce.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

Whereas big events can be "hidden" in a huge city like London, she says, the "fun secret sauce" that Manchester brings - including art trails and pop star tram announcements - "really came out".

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Fold in the gnocchi and meatballs so every bite gets slicked in the sauce.

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

Fried mung-bean pancake with spicy sauce, wafting in the air with the bricks of pungent soybean paste hawked by a nearby merchant, so strong you could taste it.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

• dressing
• flavoring
• gravy
• relish