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

The Chicken Salad Bacon Club wrap had the right ratio of lettuce to avocado to chicken salad—although it leaned a bit on the salty side, likely a consequence of the bacon bits sprinkled inside.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

The valley is where, in 1970, Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers launched their Salad Bowl strike, the largest farmworker labor action in U.S. history.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025

You can pair them with Borscht either hot or cold, Kasha Varnishkas or Beet, Apple & Herring Salad, all parts of the American-Jewish canon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025

Appeared in the October 4, 2025, print edition as 'Chicken Kebabs With Onion-Mint Salad, Yogurt and Warm Pita'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025

“Thank goodness. Dig in, guys. I got fried chicken for you, Jake. Salad for Emma. Rotisserie chicken for me. And mashed potatoes for everybody!”

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• potato salad