special sauce

noun

: secret sauce
… thinly sliced lamb served with tomato, onion and special sauce on warm pita bread …New Times
The special sauce is their software that enables the computers to tell whether a call has reached a live person or an answering device …Tiernan Ray

Examples of special sauce in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Plus, all the special sauce would run out of the sides of the buns. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 12 June 2024 Chick-fil-A, known for its fried or grilled chicken sandwiches, waffle fries and special sauce, plans to build a new location at 3310 Washtenaw Ave., the company confirmed in an email to the Free Press. Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 30 May 2024 Something of Universal Soldier’s action-horror male soap opera can be found in later action vehicles (Vin Diesel in Bloodshot is a vindictive elite soldier), but the special sauce in Day of the Reckoning is Adkins. Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024 The special sauce of primary care will not be saved until the overwhelming number of metrics that sit heavily on primary care providers’ shoulders is winnowed down. Katherine Gergen Barnett and Lara F. Terry, STAT, 2 May 2024 The Double Big Mac has all the same ingredients of its smaller sibling, the Big Mac — lettuce, cheddar cheese, pickles, onions and special sauce — yet stands taller with four beef patties and three sesame seed buns. John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Jan. 2024 Meantime, younger hip-hop artists started calling on Wilson to add his special sauce to their recordings. Alan Light, Variety, 29 Jan. 2024 The numbers show us that tech, as a foundational element combined with human touch, is the special sauce in achieving a personalized digital experience. Roxanne Robinson, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024 Detroit-style specialty pizzas include fun pies like The Happiest Meal, a ground beef/cheese/pickle/special sauce concoction meant to evoke a cheeseburger and The Godfather Part II, an alfredo-sauce/chicken/mushroom combo with dabs of sriracha. Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'special sauce.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of special sauce was in 1848

Dictionary Entries Near special sauce

Cite this Entry

“Special sauce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/special%20sauce. Accessed 18 Jun. 2024.

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