soy sauce

noun

variants or less commonly soy or chiefly British soya sauce

: a brown, salty liquid that is made by subjecting soybeans and roasted grain (such as wheat) to long fermentation in brine and is used especially in Asian cooking and as a condiment

At its most basic, soy sauce is a fermented liquid made from soybeans and wheat. Soybeans contribute a strong, pungent taste, while wheat lends sweetness.

—Lisa McManus

My most recent kick has been Chinese. For more than a year now I've been stir-frying everything in ginger and garlic and adding soy sauce.

—Andrew A. Rooney

see shoyu

Examples of soy sauce in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Add the soy sauce mixture and the pork chops. —Kate Williams, AJC.com, 30 Mar. 2026

Does Diet Coke share any flavor profile with soy sauce besides their both being dark-brown liquids? —Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026

My favorite thing to get at Panda Express was the white rice and pour Diet Coke on top, instead of soy sauce. —Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 24 Mar. 2026

Seven played on soy sauce base sauces in dry storage. —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1775, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for soy sauce

• across
• backcross
• crisscross
• lacrosse
• recross
• tomas
• albatross
• applesauce
• barabbas
• helios
• kshatriyas
• blas

Kids Definition

soy sauce

noun

: a brown sauce made from soybeans and used especially in Chinese and Japanese cooking