soy sauce

American  

[soi saws] / ˈsɔɪ ˌsɔs /

especially British, soya sauce

noun

• soy sauces
  plural

1. a salty, fermented sauce prepared from soybeans, used in East Asian cuisine.

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soy sauce British  

/ sɔɪ /

noun

1. Also called: soya sauce. a salty dark brown sauce made from fermented soya beans, used esp in Japanese and Chinese cookery

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• soy sauces
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of soy sauce

First recorded in 1785–95

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

soy sauce

Both Sakai and Tsugawa highlight the punch of wasabi and the salty complexity of soy sauce as complements to Wagyu.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

For this cold noodle dish from Gu Grocery, blend toasted sesame seeds with soy sauce, rice vinegar, pickled mustard greens, and orange zest and juice for maximum flavor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Pour in a dash of soy sauce or fish sauce.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

He tweaks the flavor by adding fresh ingredients, including fish sauce, soy sauce, chunks of beef and sachets of Chinese herbs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

My father is digging into the chow mein, which still sits in an oversize aluminum pan surrounded by little plastic packets of soy sauce.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

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