salad dressing

American  

noun

1. a sauce for a salad, usually with a base of oil and vinegar or of mayonnaise.

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salad dressing British  

noun

1. a sauce for salad, such as oil and vinegar or mayonnaise

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Etymology

Origin of salad dressing

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

The new guidelines take a much harder line on added sugars, found in everything from cookies to salad dressing and bread.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

These molecules naturally cluster into thread-like shapes, somewhat like the separation that occurs when oil and vinegar form layers in salad dressing.

From Science Daily • Dec. 13, 2025

A food writer friend and I now send recipes back and forth — nothing too serious, just the kind of thing you'd text if you could send a sandwich or a salad dressing via USPS.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2025

I worked at Caioti, an Italian restaurant in Laurel Canyon — their claim to fame was they had this salad dressing that made pregnant women go into labor.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2024

I already have salad dressing on my fork and I know better than to lick it off and place the fork back on the table, so I just freeze.

From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson