bird's-nest soup

American  

noun

1. a Chinese soup made from the mucilaginous lining of the nests of the Asiatic swift.

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bird's-nest soup British  

noun

1. a rich spicy Chinese soup made from the outer part of the nests of SE Asian swifts of the genus Collocalia

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Etymology

Origin of bird's-nest soup

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

And for homesick Chinese gamblers, bird's-nest soup is now available at the hotel--for $150 a bowl.

From Time Magazine Archive

These contain the birds' hardened saliva, basic ingredient of bird's-nest soup.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then we had bird’s-nest soup, which is one of the most costly luxuries to be had in Canton.

From Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife by Holley, Marietta

It began with mandarin bird's-nest soup, with plover's eggs floating about in it.

From A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' Our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months by Brassey, Annie

The much-talked-of edible bird's-nest soup is really a fine dish.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy by Various