sausage
Americannoun
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sausages
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
How does sausage compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Sausage is a food made from meat that's minced or ground, flavored with seasonings, and encased in a thin skin. It's best not to think too much about what lives inside a sausage casing; just enjoy eating it. There are many kinds of sausage, some of which are sold raw, some cooked, and others smoked, cured, or dried. Traditionally, sausages have been a way to avoid waste, by using the less appealing parts of a butchered pig or cow, and a practical way to preserve meat so that it doesn't have to be cooked immediately or frozen. In the mid-fifteenth century, the word was spelled sawsyge, from a Latin root, salsus, or "salted."
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:
Fury did momentarily take aim at Hearn, calling him a "sausage" - but even that did not last long.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Meanwhile Joe Marler, probably still edging Pollock in the crossover star stakes, has previously taken to the field with an advert for team-mate Olly Kohn's sausage company shaved into his head.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
As for that $18.49 squash sauce, I browned some Italian sausage, boiled pasta, warmed the sauce and put a Caesar salad and good focaccia on the table.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
They hosted a sausage sizzle and attended the Australian Football League Finals at Melbourne Cricket Ground, the site of their game against the Rams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 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
A Conagra Brands recall in 2023 connected to a plant in Fort Madison, Iowa, affected its Armour Star Vienna sausages as well as those made under private labels sold at Kroger and Walmart.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
Lyubov thinks back to when she used to ride her bike across the border into Ukraine to shop for sausages, yarn and ice cream.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Researchers examined a wide range of products commonly available to UK shoppers, including burgers, vegetarian chicken pieces, vegan sausages, and oat, almond and soy-based milks.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
It didn’t even live with the other sausages.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
There was a hamburger stand just like Henry had predicted, and Mr. Turner from the grocery store brought a truck with candy, pickles, and sausages on sticks.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
