soup

[soop]

noun

1. a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, or vegetables with various added ingredients.

   Synonyms: potage, stock, broth

2. Slang.,  a thick fog.

3. Slang.,  added power, especially horsepower.

4. Slang.,  nitroglycerin.

5. Photography Slang.,  developing solution.

verb phrase

1. soup up

   1. to improve the capacity for speed or increase the efficiency of (a motor or engine) by increasing the richness of the fuel mixture or the efficiency of the fuel, or by adjusting the engine.

   2. to give spirit or vivacity to; enliven.

      a political rally souped up by the appearance of the candidates.

soup

/ suːp /

noun

1. a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, vegetables, etc, usually served hot at the beginning of a meal

2. informal,  a photographic developer

3. informal,  anything resembling soup in appearance or consistency, esp thick fog See also peasouper

4. a slang name for nitroglycerine

5. informal,  in trouble or difficulties

Other Word Forms

• soupless adjective
• souplike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of soup¹

1645–55; 1940–45 soup for def. 6; < French soupe, Old French souppe, sope < Germanic; compare Dutch sopen to dunk. See sop

Word History and Origins

Origin of soup¹

C17: from Old French soupe, from Late Latin suppa, of Germanic origin; compare Middle High German suppe, Old Norse soppa soup

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in the soup, in trouble.

   He'll be in the soup when the truth comes out.

2. from soup to nuts,

   1. from the first through the last course of a meal.

   2. from beginning to end; to a complete, encompassing degree; leaving nothing out.

More idioms and phrases containing soup

• duck soup
• from soup to nuts
• in the soup
• thick as thieves (pea soup)

Example Sentences

“Every time I make soup, I hear her voice say BTBRTS,” one fan wrote.

From Salon

Add a little lift to baked potato soup, toss it into egg salad, or punch up deviled eggs.

From Salon

Hammerhead cranes at the nearby port facilities dotted the horizon as classic cars turned down E Street, and posters and T-shirts in the crowd advertised membership in an alphabet soup of union locals.

From Los Angeles Times

Occasional weird inventions are folded in: a “hambulance” delivering ham; food trucks selling potato ice cream and soup on a stick; something called Pacifier Shirt Syndrome, caused by rubbing a dropped pacifier on a short.

From Los Angeles Times

Now he is the vice-president of the Green Tea Restaurant chain, which has more than 400 outlets in China serving fresh seafood and savoury soups from Zhejiang.

From BBC

Related Words

• circumstance 
• crisis 
• deadlock 
• dilemma 
• hardship 
• imbroglio 
• impasse 
• mess 
• plight 
• posture 
• quagmire 
• quandary