sauce

1 of 2

noun

ˈsȯs 

 usually  for sense 4 ˈsas

1

: a condiment or relish for food

especially : a fluid dressing or topping

2

: something that adds zest or piquancy

3

: stewed fruit eaten with other food or as a dessert

4

: pert or impudent language or actions

5

slang : liquor

—used with the

sauce

2 of 2

verb

ˈsȯs 

 usually  for sense 3 ˈsas

sauced; saucing

transitive verb

1

a

: to dress with relish or seasoning

b

: to cover or serve with a sauce

2

a

archaic : to modify the harsh or unpleasant characteristics of

b

: to give zest or piquancy to

3

: to be rude or impudent to

Synonyms

Noun

• dressing
• gravy

Examples of sauce in a Sentence

Noun

She tried several sauces before she found one she liked.

chicken in a cream sauce

Cover the strawberries with the chocolate sauce.

This pizza needs more sauce.

I've had enough of your sauce!

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This tomato sauce recipe is one of her most famous, thanks to a generous amount of butter and a sweet, simple flavor. —Anna Luisa Rodriguez, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024

Tuck into onion cooked in ash with Sasso Nero cheese or marinated golden trout fish with a silky yolk sauce and poppy seeds. —Jemima Sissons, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Apr. 2024

Extras like sauces and napkins are within easy reach, Bloomberg reports, and the store is 9% smaller than the brand’s average, allowing for 10% less staff. —Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024

One of the voices critical of Momofuku threatening legal action against other chile sauce businesses was Fly by Jing chef and entrepreneur Jing Gao. —Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024

Cooking it down is a key step in countless sauces and stews, from sancocho to Dominican spaghetti to pollo guisado. —Carlos Matias, Bon Appétit, 6 Apr. 2024

That frothy sauce using Door Artisan Cheese Company’s Sancho Cruz Mexican-Style Manchego was so airy and and light. —Rachel Bernhard, Journal Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2024

Red Cow: The Ultimate Burger, a double patty with cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, Red Cow sauce. —Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 2 Apr. 2024

My wife had a salmon panang curry — pan-roasted, with peanuts in a coconut cream sauce ($32). —Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2024

Verb

Chefs looking to create dishes for a new plant-forward world discovered that coneheads were easy to braise or roast, and looked gorgeous when quartered and sauced on a plate. —Kim Severson, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2024

Prices: Ravioli $15 per box of 50, meatballs $10 for 10, sauce $10 per quart, grated cheese $8 per container. —Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 20 Mar. 2024

The special features a 20-ounce dry-aged bone-in NY strip, full lobster, sauce Americaine, pomme puree, and glazed carrots with pearl onions. —Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 9 Feb. 2024

Add broccoli and cheese to sauce: Add cheese, and stir until melted and smooth. —Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 26 Dec. 2023

Adjust consistency with extra water as needed until sauce smoothly coats noodles. —Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 29 Jan. 2024

Then return the wings, sauced, to the air fryer, so the sauce can adhere to the wings and caramelize slightly—if left on the entire cook time, the sauce would likely burn. —Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 26 Jan. 2024

Or, make your go-to sauce plus an exciting experiment. —Aleksandra Crapanzano / Photographs By F. Martin Ramin/the Wall Street Journal, Food Styling By Kim Ramin , WSJ, 10 Nov. 2023

Get a jump on Thanksgiving menu prep or sauce up any meal with this easy turkey gravy from scratch—no drippings required. —Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Oct. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin salsa, feminine of salsus salted, from past participle of sallere to salt, from sal salt — more at salt

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing sauce

• barbecue sauce
• bordelaise sauce
• brown sauce
• hot fudge sauce
• duck sauce
• cocktail sauce
• hot sauce
• hard sauce
• hoisin sauce
• Nantua sauce
• secret sauce
• mother sauce
• special sauce
• the sauce
• what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander
• white sauce
• weak sauce
• tartar sauce
• soy sauce
• chili sauce
• béarnaise sauce
• Mornay sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• alfredo sauce
• soya sauce
• off the sauce
• tartare sauce
• on the sauce

Kids Definition

sauce

1 of 2 noun

ˈsȯs 

1

: a thick liquid that is eaten with or on food to add flavor

a tangy pasta sauce

ice cream with chocolate sauce

2

: boiled or canned fruit

cranberry sauce

3

: rude or impolite language or actions

sauce

2 of 2 verb

sauced; saucing

1

: to add sauce to : season

2

: to be rude or impudent to