sausage
Americannoun
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minced pork, beef, or other meats, often combined, together with various added ingredients and seasonings, usually stuffed into a prepared intestine or other casing and often made in links.
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Aeronautics. a sausage-shaped observation balloon, formerly used in warfare.
noun
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finely minced meat, esp pork or beef, mixed with fat, cereal or bread, and seasonings ( sausage meat ), and packed into a tube-shaped animal intestine or synthetic casing
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an object shaped like a sausage
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informal aeronautics a captive balloon shaped like a sausage
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nothing at all
Other Word Forms
- sausage-like adjective
- sausagelike adjective
Etymology
Origin of sausage
1400–50; late Middle English sausige < dialectal Old French sausiche < Late Latin salsīcia, neuter plural of salsīcius seasoned with salt, derivative of Latin salsus salted. See sauce, -itious
Compare meaning
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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.
I also largely steer clear of sugary drinks and processed meats like bacon and sausage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
A red kite carrying what appears to be a sausage roll in its talons has been captured on camera by an amateur photographer.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
My Domino’s order is a small pepperoni, pineapple, olives and sausage slice ... hand tossed, cheesed up, and then I will get a side of garlic knots and a side of buffalo wings with ranch.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
EU member states and lawmakers agreed Thursday to ban using meat-related terms such as "steak" and "bacon" to market plant-based foods -- but spared veggie "burgers" and "sausage".
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
Each man has another mess-tin full for the evening; and, what is more, there is a double ration of sausage and bread.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
