/saʊs/
OriginFrom Middle English souse (“to salt pickle”) also a noun (“liquid for pickling,” “pickled pig parts”), from Old French sous (“preserved in salt”), from Frankish *sultija (“saltwater, brine”), from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“saltwater, brine”). Cognate with Old Saxon sultia (“saltwater”), Old High German sulza (“brine”).
- The pickled ears, feet, etc., of swine.
“And he that can rear up a pig in his house, / Hath cheaper his bacon, and sweeter his souse.”
- Appalachia, USPickled scrapple.
- CaribbeanPickled or boiled ears and feet of a pig
- A pickle made with salt.
- The ear; especially, a hog's ear.
- The act of sousing; a plunging into water.
- A drunkard.
“"If there's any, giving in charge here I'll give you in charge for sneaking my beer, you slop-bellied old souse!" exclaimed Peter.”
- The act of sousing, or swooping.
“Eft fierce retourning as a foulcon fayre, / That once hath failed of her souse full neare”
- A heavy blow.
“With that his murdrous mace he vp did reare, / That seemed nought the souse thereof could beare,”
- obsoleteA sou (the French coin).
- datedA small amount.
- Internet, US, alt-of, pronunciation-spellingPronunciation spelling of source.
- transitiveTo immerse in liquid; to steep or drench.
“(Although I bee well soused in this showere,)”
“For then I viewd his body fall and ſowſe / Into the fomy maine, […]”
“As for my ſelf, they uſed to ſowſe me over head and ears in water when I was a boy”
- transitiveTo steep in brine; to pickle.
- dialectal, transitiveTo strike, beat.
- dialectal, intransitiveTo fall heavily.
“Him so transfixed she before her bore / Beyond his croupe, the length of all her launce; / Till, sadly soucing on the sandy shore, / He tombled on an heape, and wallowd in his gore.”
“Thus on some silver swan or tim'rous hare / Jove's bird comes sowsing down from upper air”
- obsolete, transitiveTo pounce upon.
“[The gallant monarch] like an eagle o'er his eyrie towers, / To souse annoyance that comes near his nest.”
- archaic, dialectal, not-comparableSuddenly, without warning.
“Mr Nash […] suddenly taking the gentleman by the collar of his coat, and waistband of his breeches, threw him souse over the parapet to the object of his love.”
Formssouses(plural) · souses(present, singular, third-person) · sousing(participle, present) · soused(participle, past) · soused(past)