souse
1 Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to plunge into water or other liquid.
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to be soaked or drenched.
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to be steeping or soaking in something.
noun
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an act of sousing.
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something kept or steeped in pickle, especially the head, ears, and feet of a pig.
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a liquid used as a pickle.
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Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a habitual drinker of alcohol who is frequently intoxicated.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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a rising while in flight.
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a swooping or pouncing.
verb
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to plunge (something, oneself, etc) into water or other liquid
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to drench or be drenched
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(tr) to pour or dash (liquid) over (a person or thing)
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to steep or cook (food) in a marinade
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slang (tr; usually passive) to make drunk
noun
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the liquid or brine used in pickling
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the act or process of sousing
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slang a habitual drunkard
verb
noun
Etymology
Origin of souse1
First recorded 1350–1400 and in 1915–20 souse 1 for def. 11; Middle English noun souce, sows, from Old French souz, sous, souce “pickled (meat),” from Germanic (akin to salt 1 ); the verb is derivative of the noun
Origin of souse2
First recorded in 1350–1400; by-form of source in its earlier literal sense “rising”
Explanation
When you souse something, you plunge it into water or another liquid. If your little dog gets sprayed by a skunk, you'll want to souse him in a perfumed bubble bath to get the smell out. This word originally meant "plunge into vinegar" or "pickle," and you can still use it that way: "Let's souse these little cucumbers from the garden." The Germanic root of souse is related to pickling, meaning "brine" or "salt." You can also use souse as a noun: "Fido, you stink! Time for a good souse!" These days, it's also commonly used in an informal, figurative way to mean "intoxicated."
Vocabulary lists containing souse
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:
Specialty products include beef hot dogs, cocktail sausages and hot or mild souse under the Magnolia brand.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 27, 2018
From here on out there are drops, rocks, and souse holes aplenty, but a straightforward line through the melee beckons.
From Time Magazine Archive
The trick is to veer away from souse holes?a vacuum on the downstream side of a boulder?because the swirl can pull the stern down and pop the bow up, propelling passengers into the drink.
From Time Magazine Archive
Through the mysterious medium of Strine, magic comes out mare chick, a terrace house is a terror souse, house-proud is assprad, and sacks of potatoes are sex apertaters.
From Time Magazine Archive
Fayles of her souse, and passing by doth hurt no more.
From British Birds in their Haunts by Johns, Rev. C. A.
Her main dish was smoked rainbow trout, citrus cured rillette, fried egg, chive mash, soused vegetables and herb butter sauce.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2023
What will this year’s Cannes jurors think of Östlund’s mash-up of Buñuelian chaos and “Gilligan’s Island,” complete with Woody Harrelson as increasingly soused skipper?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2022
Where they diverge has to do the rough grain Walter assigns to Malory, a quality the stubbornly refined but equally soused Lucille rarely demonstrates.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2021
When she reaches the bridge, she closes her eyes and lets the music tell the story: The guitars start playing in reverse, like soused memories rewinding in her mind.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2020
‘Wake up and go down yourself. Call the cop and let him get soused on the chain gang with cornbread and peas. Go to it, Misses Brannon.’
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
First he took on a whiskered lion’s shape, a serpent then; a leopard; a great boar; then sousing water; then a tall green tree.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
With that he took a kettle, and sousing it into one of the pots, he fished out three hens and a couple of geese at one heave.
From The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de
The unexpected sousing pulled the combatants up short, separated all the champions, and drove the howling and shrieking mob back to the far end of the room.
From Fantômas by Metcalfe, Cranstoun
What man could stay at home when his wife, supplied with a mop and a big pail of soapy water, is sousing the floor and the walls?
From Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Holmes, Daniel Turner
A sousing rain soon made confusion among them, and reconciled us to a speedy departure.
From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Howe, Julia Ward
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.
