soup kitchen

American  

noun

1. a place where food, usually soup, is served at little or no charge to people experiencing food insecurity.

2. Military Slang. (in World War I) a mobile kitchen.

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soup kitchen British  

noun

1. a place or mobile stall where food and drink, esp soup, is served to destitute people

2. military a mobile kitchen

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Etymology

Origin of soup kitchen

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Every day now I would see them in their hundreds, outside the soup kitchens, lining up in the snow, or huddled together against the cold in doorways, the children crying.

From Literature

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

Nina, a 77-year-old retired engineer, said she could no longer go to the supermarket, getting her lunch and dinner from the soup kitchen instead, as she was not able to afford her own groceries.

From Barron's

Many use soup kitchens to get free hot meals because there are also power cuts here for hours on end.

From BBC

Apparently not when he’s working a soup kitchen, according to these legal aces.

From The Wall Street Journal