soup
Americannoun
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a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, or vegetables with various added ingredients.
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Slang. a thick fog.
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Slang. added power, especially horsepower.
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Slang. nitroglycerin.
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Photography Slang. developing solution.
verb phrase
idioms
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in the soup, in trouble.
He'll be in the soup when the truth comes out.
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from soup to nuts,
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from the first through the last course of a meal.
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from beginning to end; to a complete, encompassing degree; leaving nothing out.
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noun
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a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, vegetables, etc, usually served hot at the beginning of a meal
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informal a photographic developer
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informal anything resembling soup in appearance or consistency, esp thick fog See also peasouper
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a slang name for nitroglycerine
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informal in trouble or difficulties
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of soup
1645–55; 1940–45 soup for def. 6; < French soupe, Old French souppe, sope < Germanic; compare Dutch sopen to dunk. See sop
Explanation
Soup is a liquid or thick, creamy food that's usually hot and savory. If you have a sore throat, your grandma might make you a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup. Most soup is made by cooking vegetables, beans, meat, or fish (or a combination of these) in water for a long time. Sometimes soup is thickened with cream or flour, or by pureeing some of the ingredients. Certain soups, like gazpacho and vichyssoise, are served cold, and others are sweet and made with fruit. You may hear people describe a dense, thick fog as "pea soup" or use the phrase "soup to nuts" to mean "everything."
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:
A blender is used to purée the soup in batches before it’s simmered one last time and finished with more butter, salt and pepper.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
I’ll get the Robert roll and maybe even a miso soup if I’m feeling crazy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The single person, or the lone vegetarian in a house full of carnivores, might not eat a whole pot of soup in one sitting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
But the fins are swooped up by traders for the international markets, where they are used in shark-fin soup.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
There was a slice of black bread for each prisoner, too, then nothing more until we were given a ladle of turnip soup and a small boiled potato late in the afternoon.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
When dried and salted, guitarfish is used in soups and stews across Ghana.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
In Burbank, family-run Tun Lahmajo delves into Armenian homestyle dishes, including flatbreads, cold salads, roasted meats, a range of soups and herbed stews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
I’ve noticed that most canned soups, whether cream-based or broth-heavy, lack the fragrant, punchy flavors of fresh aromatics.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
Over time, small meals, soups, toast and tea can become a diet that fills the stomach without meeting nutritional needs.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2026
Horan liked the soups and the rice, but he didn’t dare try the other food they served, with cooked snakes, frog legs, and other animals hunted from the jungle.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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.
