marinade
Americannoun
-
marinades
plural
-
a seasoned liquid, usually of vinegar or wine with oil, herbs, spices, etc., in which meat, fish, vegetables, etc., are steeped before cooking.
-
meat, fish, vegetables, etc., steeped in it.
verb (used with object)
-
marinades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
marinaded,
past participle, past
-
marinading
present participle
noun
-
a spiced liquid mixture of oil, wine, vinegar, herbs, etc, in which meat or fish is soaked before cooking
-
meat or fish soaked in this liquid
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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marinadesimple
-
marinadessimple
-
have marinadedperfect
-
has marinadedperfect
-
am marinadingprogressive
-
are marinadingprogressive
-
is marinadingprogressive
-
have been marinadingperfect progressive
-
has been marinadingperfect progressive
Past
-
marinadedsimple
-
had marinadedperfect
-
was marinadingprogressive
-
were marinadingprogressive
-
had been marinadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of marinade
1675–85; < French < Provençal marinado, noun use of feminine past participle of mariná to cure meat or fish in brine, verbal derivative of marin marine
Explanation
A marinade is a flavorful liquid that food is soaked in before being cooked. Before grilling chicken, you should let the meat sit in a marinade. Most marinades include spices, oil, and something acidic, like lemon juice or vinegar. Some recipes call for leaving food in a marinade briefly, while others instruct you to leave food in a marinade for days. This is a good way to make a tough cut of meat more tender. When you use a marinade, you marinate — both words come from the French mariner, "to pickle in sea brine," from the Latin marinus, "of the sea."
Vocabulary lists containing marinade
Mardi Gras: Food
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With the Fire on High
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Mexikid
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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:
They also have water galore—a toxic, salty marinade that comes up alongside oil and which they plan to treat so it can be used to cool data centers and power plants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
So, once I’m home, I’ll prep a chicken curry so it can sit in the marinade for a day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
It initially hit the right sweet, slightly piquant notes that al pastor meat should — but the flavor quickly dissipated because the marinade hadn’t soaked through the chicken chunks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
Companies are wrestling with drilling hazards that make it more costly to operate and complaining that the marinade is creeping into their oil-and-gas reservoirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
I make my way through the crowd with another Styrofoam cup of the dreadful red marinade, trying not to feel left out.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
In the episode, Celenza uses the two for a breakfast sandwich, but mayo and hot sauce can be used in a multitude of meals: sandwiches, salads, marinades, hamburgers, tacos… do I need to keep going?
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
One butcher said all his meat, marinades and spices had been taken away to be checked.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
Orrison, Lewis and their team on Friday were preparing two Duroc hogs for the competition, each one carefully injected with marinades and laid over a bed of butter and bacon.
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2024
China Chilcano's chefs said the product behaved very similarly to conventional chicken and offered some improvements, like rapid absorption of marinades.
From Reuters ● Jul. 20, 2023
So they brought him forthwith nearly an hundred dishes of poultry besides other birds and brewises, fritters and cooling marinades.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 05 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
Chipotle’s chicken al pastor, which is marinaded in morita peppers, ground achiote and pineapple, debuted in March 2023.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
Nothing screams "I Love You" more than enjoying a gut-destroying dinner of Southern-style ribs, marinaded in the scent of fellow sweat-soaked patrons from Augusta National.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 13, 2017
Anwar picks a peshwari kebab of lamb marinaded in yoghurt and garlic.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2012
Welner said Khadr had been "steeped and marinaded in radical jihadism" among fellow captives at Guantanamo.
From Reuters ● Oct. 26, 2010
Paunch, skin, and clean a hare marinaded in vinegar for a couple of days with four onions sliced, three shalots, a couple of sprigs of parsley, pepper and salt.
From Dressed Game and Poultry à la Mode by Harriet A. de Salis
There is no law stating a maximum number of hours for which these pickles should remain marinading.
From Salon ● May 10, 2025
The artist’s adult-sized gingerbread house in one of the galleries will likely generate all manner of chatter, but the poignant works of video, assemblage and drawing will be worth marinading in too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2019
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