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:
These blooms can look like a thick soup or pulsing cloud in the water and have been known to block boat engines.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Almost anything can be made into a soup — even fresh, chopped lettuce.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Only the diner remains but Morton still plans on touring the Village with Teddy, showing off all of mom’s old haunts and, yes, having a cup of soup at the Waverly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 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
My foster parents think I was starving in Cuba, and so they like to take me to this restaurant called Wolfie’s, where we eat enormous pastrami sandwiches and bowls of matzoh ball soup.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
When dried and salted, guitarfish is used in soups and stews across Ghana.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Parada Calderon said his family sends him about $100 per month to spend on commissary items, which he spends on packets of crackers, coffee, soups, soap, shampoo, deodorant and chips.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 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
They tended the fires, stirred the soups, rocked the babies, and waited.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
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.
