salad

American  

[sal-uhd] / ˈsæl əd /

noun

salads plural

1. a usually cold dish consisting of vegetables, as lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, covered with a dressing and sometimes containing seafood, meat, or eggs.

2. any of various dishes consisting of foods, as meat, seafood, eggs, pasta, or fruit, prepared singly or combined, usually cut up, mixed with a dressing, and served cold.

   chicken salad; potato salad.

3. any herb or green vegetable, as lettuce, used for salads or eaten raw.

4. South Midland and Southern U.S. greens.

5. any mixture or assortment.

   The usual salad of writers, artists, and musicians attended the party.

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salad British  

/ ˈsæləd /

noun

1. a dish of raw vegetables, such as lettuce, tomatoes, etc, served as a separate course with cold meat, eggs, etc, or as part of a main course

2. any dish of cold vegetables or fruit

   potato salad

   fruit salad

3. any green vegetable used in such a dish, esp lettuce

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• salads
  plural

Etymology

Origin of salad

1350–1400; Middle English salad ( e ) < Middle French salade < Old Provençal salada < Vulgar Latin *salāta, feminine past participle of *salāre to salt, equivalent to sal-, stem of sāl salt ¹ + -āta -ate ¹

Explanation

A salad is a dish that's usually cold and often includes lettuce or other greens. However, some salads don't have any greens but instead have lots of mayo — like tuna salad or chicken salad. While your idea of a salad might be iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, croutons, and a creamy dressing, salads come in many different forms. You can make a pasta salad or a tuna salad or an egg salad. Other salads are based on big pieces of bread, or meat, or cheese — and still others are dessert salads made with gelatin or whipped cream and fruit. Salad comes from the Latin phrase herba salata, or "salted vegetables."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

salad salads

Bagged salad mixes and kits, which have been linked to previous outbreaks in the United States and Canada, were suddenly a no-go.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

For salad lovers, experts recommend buying whole heads of lettuce and removing and discarding the outer couple of layers of leaves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Last week, the company announced it was voluntarily recalling various products including chopped lettuce, shredded lettuce, blends of iceberg, romaine lettuce and salad mixes that were supplied to restaurants and retailers in 27 states.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

The next day, that name emerged: California-based Taylor Farms, the third-largest producer of fresh produce in the U.S., specializing in packaged salad kits and fresh-cut vegetables.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

It was real dinner too—steak and potatoes and even a salad with homemade dressing, not from a bottle or anything.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Now may not be the time to whip up your favorite cold salads or overload on the “L” in your BLTs.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

There’s a counter with sandwiches, pastries, salads and more, but no buffet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Taylor Farms said that its branded salads and kits don’t contain iceberg lettuce and aren’t associated with the outbreak.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026

Public health officials are investigating a major California-based producer of pre-packaged salads, Taylor Farms, that supplied iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell as a potential source of the cyclosporiasis outbreak, sources have told multiple news outlets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

I remember now that my mom bought these gourmet salads for my grandparents from a new salad-only place.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

• potato salad