soup
- a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, or vegetables with various added ingredients.
- Slang. a thick fog.
- Slang. added power, especially horsepower.
- Slang. nitroglycerin.
- Photography Slang. developing solution.
- soup up, Slang.
- to improve the capacity for speed or increase the efficiency of (a motor or engine) by increasing the richness of the fuel mixture or the efficiency of the fuel, or by adjusting the engine.
- to give spirit or vivacity to; enliven: a political rally souped up by the appearance of the candidates.
- from soup to nuts,
- from the first through the last course of a meal.
- from beginning to end; to a complete, encompassing degree; leaving nothing out.
- in the soup, Informal. in trouble: He'll be in the soup when the truth comes out.
Origin of soup
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words
bolsterstressbuttresssupportenlargeincreasefortifyemphasizeboostunderlinereplyincludecontinueupgradedevelopaugmentsupplementrefineenhancecultivatesoup up
- to modify (a vehicle or vehicle engine) in order to increase its power
- Also: hot up, (esp US and Canadian) hop up to make (something) more exciting or interesting
- (of a vehicle or vehicle engine) modified so as to be more powerfula souped-up scooter
- more exciting or interestinga souped-up version of their last single
soup
- a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, vegetables, etc, usually served hot at the beginning of a meal
- informal a photographic developer
- informal anything resembling soup in appearance or consistency, esp thick fogSee also peasouper
- a slang name for nitroglycerine
- in the soup informal in trouble or difficulties
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for soup up
soup
n.
"liquid food," 1650s, from French soupe "soup, broth" (13c.), from Late Latin suppa "bread soaked in broth," from a Germanic source (cf. Middle Dutch sop "sop, broth"), from Proto-Germanic *sup-, from PIE *sub-, from root *seue- (2) "to take liquid" (see sup (v.2)).
Primordial soup is from a concept first expressed 1929 by J.B.S. Haldane. Soup to nuts "everything" is from 1910. Soup-kitchen, "public establishment supported by voluntary contributions, for preparing and serving soup to the poor at no cost" is attested from 1839. In Ireland, souper meant "Protestant clergyman seeking to make proselytes by dispensing soup in charity" (1854).
soup
v.
"increase the horsepower of an engine," 1921, probably from soup (n.) in slang sense of "narcotic injected into horses to make them run faster" (1911), influenced by supercharge (v.).
Idioms and Phrases with soup up
soup up
Make something more powerful; especially, add speed to an engine. For example, He was riding around in that car he'd souped up, or They had to soup up the sound system for the outdoor concert. [Slang; c. 1930]
soup
In addition to the idiom beginning with soup
- soup up
also see:
- duck soup
- from soup to nuts
- in the soup
- thick as thieves (pea soup)