I. soup 1 S3 /suːp/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: soupe 'piece of bread dipped in liquid, soup' ]
1 . cooked liquid food, often containing small pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables:
homemade tomato soup
2 . be in the soup informal to be in trouble
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + soup
▪ chicken/tomato etc soup
We both had chicken soup.
▪ hot
They serve hot soup from mobile kitchens.
▪ thick
Lunch consisted of a thick vegetable soup.
▪ creamy
A rich creamy potato soup starts the meal.
▪ homemade
Homemade soup can be had for $2.50 a bowl.
▪ canned ( also tinned British English )
She heated up some tinned soup.
■ phrases
▪ a bowl of soup
Could I have a bowl of soup?
▪ a cup/mug of soup
He got a cup of soup from the machine.
▪ a can of soup ( also a tin of soup British English )
I opened a can of mushroom soup.
■ soup + NOUN
▪ a soup bowl/plate
Russell pushed his empty soup bowl away.
▪ a soup spoon (=a spoon with a rounder part that you eat from than an ordinary spoon)
▪ a soup tureen (=a large bowl with a lid, from which soup is served)
She lifted the lid of the soup tureen.
■ verbs
▪ eat/drink soup
We chatted as we ate our spinach soup.
▪ ladle soup out/into a bowl (=serve it using a large spoon)
Ladle the soup into warm bowls and garnish with parsley.
II. soup 2 BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: Probably from soup 'drug given to a horse to make it run faster' (1900-2000) , from ⇨ ↑ soup 1 ]
soup something ↔ up phrasal verb informal
to improve something, especially a car, by making it more powerful