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

Etymology

Origin of soy sauce

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

soy sauce

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

Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and a tablespoon of chicken stock or water, cover the pan and cook.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 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

From there, the whole thing gets nudged further into depth with oregano, paprika and, perhaps unexpectedly, soy sauce.

From Salon ● May 19, 2026

When the sprouts are starting to shrivel, I pour in a bunch of soy sauce.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri