vinegar
Americannoun
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vinegars
plural
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a sour liquid consisting of dilute and impure acetic acid, obtained by acetous fermentation from wine, cider, beer, ale, or the like: used as a condiment, preservative, etc.
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Pharmacology. a solution of a medicinal substance in dilute acetic acid, or vinegar.
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sour or irritable speech, manner, or countenance.
a note of vinegar in his voice.
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Informal. vigor; high spirits; vim.
noun
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a sour-tasting liquid consisting of impure dilute acetic acid, made by oxidation of the ethyl alcohol in beer, wine, or cider. It is used as a condiment or preservative
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sourness or peevishness of temper, countenance, speech, etc
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pharmacol a medicinal solution in dilute acetic acid
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informal vitality
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of vinegar
1250–1300; Middle English vinegre < Old French, equivalent to vin wine + egre, aigre sour ( see eager)
Explanation
Vinegar is a liquid that's commonly used in cooking for its tart, acidic flavor. You're probably familiar with the taste of vinegar from things like salad dressing and pickles. While you might not want to drink a glass of vinegar, it's a useful ingredient in many recipes, both for its flavor, which varies depending on how it's made, and its tenderizing properties. Vinegar can also be used for cleaning, freshening laundry, killing pests, and taking the sting off a bite from a jellyfish or wasp, among many other uses. Vinegar means "sour wine," and that's exactly what it is— juice that's fermented way beyond wine.
Vocabulary lists containing vinegar
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:
Before she left, she filled multiple bags with pesto, pasta, Parmigiano reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar and salt, and made it last back home before she returned to Italy, this time in Florence, in February 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 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
In its defence the restaurant owner argued that just 60% of diners had opted to try the ants, while the rest were served alternatives like fermented vinegar and edible flowers.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
For every can of beans, start with about 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 to 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar, plus your aromatics, herbs and spices.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
She watched her uncle maneuver salad greens, olive oil, vinegar, and several ingredients unknown to her with the same precision and assurances he employed on a difficult osteotomy.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
All my spices and rice paper noodles; canned goods, condiments, vinegars, oils.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
And just a few miles down the road is Rancho Olivos, an 8-acre olive oil farm that offers an assortment of delicious olive oils, produced from their own olives, along with several vinegars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2025
We pickle a lot of the veggies during the season and start vinegars with trimmings.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2024
Getting into fermentation also helps and fruit that looks less than perfect can be used to create some truly amazing vinegars.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2024
The various kinds of vinegars are all made by this process.
From An Elementary Study of Chemistry by William McPherson
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.
