soda
Americannoun
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sodium, as in carbonate of soda.
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a drink made with soda water, flavoring, such as fruit or other syrups, and often ice cream, milk, etc.
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(in faro) the card turned up in the dealing box before one begins to play.
noun
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any of a number of simple inorganic compounds of sodium, such as sodium carbonate ( washing soda ), sodium bicarbonate ( baking soda ), and sodium hydroxide ( caustic soda )
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See soda water
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a fizzy drink
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the top card of the pack in faro
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slang something easily done; a pushover
Regionalisms
See soda pop.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of soda
1550–60; (< Italian ) < Medieval Latin < Arabic suwwādah kind of plant; compare Middle French soulde, soude
Explanation
In many parts of the U.S., soda is a sweet, fizzy drink. There are also some places where you'd call soda "pop," a "soft drink," or "Coke" instead. While you may think of soda as something you order to drink at a restaurant, soda is also used for unflavored carbonated water, or seltzer, and for baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. There's also sodium carbonate, or "washing soda," which is an ingredient in powdered soap and used to make some types of glass. This kind of soda was originally used to carbonate water, which led to the use of soda to mean "carbonated drink."
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:
It is a tried-and-true price point that encourages people to switch brands and try new products, from soap to soda, pain relievers to party favors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Or they could’ve put the quarters in the soda fountain machine and got a Coca-Cola and been so excited.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Finish with 50ml of prosecco and top up with grapefruit soda, to taste.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
MarketWatch Picks: Poppi’s co-founders — who sold their soda company for $1.95 billion — say this is their biggest financial mistake.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
It had the air of fairly recent abandonment; there was a can of grape soda, three-quarters drunk, still sweating and cool to the touch.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
One reader uses an insulated lunch bag with reusable ice packs, along with sodas, so she doesn’t have to pay vending machine prices.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
By the end of the night, the pavement was littered with busted watermelons, sodas and chips, according to law enforcement and social media videos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
During the May restaurant trade show, Coke showed off a new beverage machine for making so-called dirty sodas and other syrup-infused beverages at restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
For generations, the cream-coloured clubhouse located on Safdarjung Road has functioned as a discreet world of retired generals, senior bureaucrats and old business families conducting negotiations over whisky sodas and kebabs.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
It is a very nice thing to do except that I don’t see him do it and leave the checkpoint without knowing the sodas are there.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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.
