I. ˈsȯs; usu in senses 4&7, dial in other senses ˈsas or ˈsaa(ə)s, or ˈsais; dial ˈsärs or ˈsȧs noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French sauce, sausse, from Latin salsa, feminine of salsus salted, from past participle of sallere to salt, from sal salt — more at salt
1. : a condiment or composition of condiments and appetizing ingredients eaten with food as a relish
barbecue sauce
2. : a fluid, semifluid, or sometimes semisolid accompaniment of solid food:
a. : meat or fish stock or milk or cream thickened with flour or other starch, usually flavored with a concentrate (as from roast meat), seasoned with a variety of condiments or spices, and used for fish, meat, eggs, or vegetables — see allemande , b IIIéchamel, brown sauce , velouté
b. : a variously flavored sweetened mixture served as a topping with a dessert: as
(1) : one composed of water, milk, cream, or fruit juice with sugar and other ingredients added and thickened with flour or other starch or with eggs
butterscotch sauce
lemon sauce
custard sauce
(2) : one composed of eggs and butter without other liquid
3. : something that adds zest or piquancy
fame is only one of the sauces of life — A.C.Benson
4. : vegetables eaten with meat or as a relish
5. : stewed or canned fruit eaten as an accompaniment with other food or as a dessert
blueberry sauce
cranberry sauce
6. : a solution used in some manufacturing processes (as moistening layers of tobacco) : pickle
7. : pert or insolent language or actions : sauciness
it never pays to stand any sauce — Arnold Bennett
8. slang : intoxicating drinks : liquor
been off the sauce for fourteen months — John O'Hara
II. ˈsȯs; usu in sense 4b, dial in other senses ˈsas or ˈsaa(ə)s or ˈsais; dial ˈsärs or ˈsȧs transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English saucen, from sauce, n.
1. : to dress (food) with something intended to give a higher relish : season , flavor
2.
a. archaic : to modify the harsh or unpleasant characteristics of : temper
a slice of the densest cloud within his reach, sauced with moonshine — Nathaniel Hawthorne
b. : to add interesting qualities to : give zest to : make piquant or attractive
technicalities sauced and seasoned by songs, recitations, and tales of adventure — Llewellyn Howland
3. obsolete : flog
4.
a. dialect chiefly England : rebuke
b. : to address in bitter, pert, or tart language : be impudent or saucy to