soup kitchen
Americannoun
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soup kitchens
plural
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a place where food, usually soup, is served at little or no charge to people experiencing food insecurity.
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Military Slang. (in World War I) a mobile kitchen.
noun
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a place or mobile stall where food and drink, esp soup, is served to destitute people
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military a mobile kitchen
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of soup kitchen
First recorded in 1850–55
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.
“You’re trying to alleviate homelessness by going and working in a soup kitchen or handing out blankets,” Steve recalls Chapman saying to him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
D'Wit had been viewed by people living on Mersea Island as a pillar of the close-knit community, having volunteered at a soup kitchen and helped with the town carnival.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
In the Guanabacoa neighborhood, in eastern Havana, workers are busy installing 12 solar panels on the roof of a nursing home run by the Catholic Church that doubles as a soup kitchen.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
You can still volunteer at a local soup kitchen, nursing home, or hospital.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2025
She tried to focus on how much she was helping them, as if this were a charitable deed, purely altruistic: like volunteering at a soup kitchen, or adopting a dog from a shelter.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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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.
