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olla podrida

American  
[ol-uh puh-dree-duh, aw-lyah paw-three-thah, aw-yah] / ˌɒl ə pəˈdri də, ˌɔ ljɑ pɔˈðri ðɑ, ˌɔ jɑ /

noun

  1. a spicy Spanish stew of sausage and other meat, chickpeas, and often tomatoes and other vegetables.

  2. an incongruous mixture or miscellany; olio.


olla podrida British  
/ -pɒˈdriːdə, -poˈðriða /

noun

  1. a Spanish dish, consisting of a stew with beans, sausages, etc

  2. an assortment; miscellany

"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

Etymology

Origin of olla podrida

1590–1600; < Spanish: literally, rotten pot


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:

His family is what the Spanish call olla podrida, or rotten pot, a mess.

From Time Magazine Archive

A skillfully concocted olla podrida of Latin American nightclub idioms sizzling in Stravinskian sauce with occasional Straussian dumplings.

From Time Magazine Archive

The investigating priest is soon dipping into an olla podrida involving cupidity, lost love and sudden deaths at the church that may or may not have been accidents.

From Time Magazine Archive

He is an indefatigable "snapper-up of unconsidered trifles," and his store is the most comical olla podrida of heterogeneous merchandise that I ever saw.

From The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52 by Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe

I hope the living in Spain, for his sake, did not then consist of olla podrida, with a variation of garlic and acid wine.

From Notes in North Africa Being a Guide to the Sportsman and Tourist in Algeria and Tunisia by W. G. Windham

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