chowder

[chou-der]

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noun

a thick soup or stew made of clams, fish, or vegetables, with potatoes, onions, and other ingredients and seasonings.

Origin of chowder

1735–45, Americanism; < French chaudière pot, kettle < Late Latin caldāria cauldron

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for chowder

porridge, puree, chowder, bouillon, concoction, distillation, fluid, splash, elixir, brew, bowl, potpourri, stock, potage, gumbo, decoction, pottage, vichyssoise, borscht, dishwater

Examples from the Web for chowder

Contemporary Examples of chowder

I was about to play touch football with John-John and I could almost smell the chowder.
My Man Crush on JFK, Jr.
Mark Katz
July 16, 2009

Historical Examples of chowder

Chowder may be made of clams, first cutting off the hard part.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Shall we go to see the camp or shall we have our chowder and luncheon first and then go?
Shavings
Joseph C. Lincoln
Now we'll call that chowder done for the second time, I guess.
Shavings
Joseph C. Lincoln
She gave her note to the little captain when he came with the chowder.
Glory of Youth
Temple Bailey
The oysters in the chowder were small, but had been taken from the water that morning.
Down South
Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for chowder

chowder

noun

a thick soup or stew containing clams or fish

Word Origin for chowder

C18: from French chaudière kettle, from Late Latin caldāria; see cauldron

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chowder

1751, American English, apparently named for the pot it was cooked in: French chaudière "a pot" (12c.), from Late Latin caldaria (see caldron). The word and the practice introduced in Newfoundland by Breton fishermen, and spreading thence to New England.

CHOWDER. A favorite dish in New England, made of fish, pork, onions, and biscuit stewed together. Cider and champagne are sometimes added. Pic-nic parties to the sea-shore generally have a dish of chowder, prepared by themselves in some grove near the beach, from fish caught at the same time. [John Russell Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1859]

The derogatory chowderhead (1819) is a corruption of cholter-head (16c.), from jolthead, of unknown origin.