# soup

Pronunciation: say "SOOP" US /sup/, UK /suːp/

## Noun

1. A liquid dish made by cooking ingredients such as meat, fish, or vegetables in water, stock, or milk, usually served hot in a bowl; a serving of this dish.
   - Simple: A liquid food made by cooking meat, vegetables, or other things in water, usually eaten hot from a bowl.
   - _She simmered the soup for hours to deepen its flavor._
   - _A good soup can be made from almost any leftover vegetables._
2. The liquid portion of a soup, as distinct from the solid ingredients; the broth.
   - Simple: The thin liquid part of a soup, without the solid pieces.
   - _My son picks out all the carrots and drinks only the soup._
   - _Strain the soup from the bones before serving it._
3. Any mixture or substance with a thick, soupy consistency.
   - Simple: Any thick, messy mix that looks like soup.
   - _Heavy rain turned the construction site into a churning soup of mud._
   - _The pond had become a green soup of algae by August._
4. A difficult or unfortunate situation; trouble or chaos that one is caught up in. *(colloquial, UK)*
   - Simple: A bad or difficult situation, like trouble or a mess.
   - _Forgetting the tickets landed the whole group in the soup._
   - _He found himself in the soup after the deal collapsed._
5. Dense fog or cloud thick enough to block visibility; also called pea soup. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Thick fog that is hard to see through.
   - _The harbor vanished into a gray soup by early evening._
   - _Climbers waited for the soup to lift before continuing up the ridge._
6. A liquid or jelly-like substrate, especially the mixture of organic compounds thought to have played a role in the origin of life on Earth.
   - Simple: A liquid mix of natural chemicals thought to have helped life begin on Earth.
   - _A warm soup of organic molecules may have given rise to the first cells._
   - _Researchers debated whether the early soup was concentrated enough to spark replication._
7. The foamy, churning part of a wave after it has broken.
   - Simple: The white, foamy water left after a wave breaks.
   - _New surfers stay in the soup until they're ready for bigger waves._
   - _He paddled through the soup to reach the calmer water beyond._
9. The processing chemicals into which film is dipped during developing, such as developer.
   - Simple: The chemical liquid that film is dipped into to be developed.
   - _In the darkroom, she left the film in the soup for exactly eight minutes before rinsing it._
   - _Old soup can leave streaks across the developed negatives._

## Verb

8. To develop photographic film by treating it in a chemical developing solution.
   - Simple: To develop photo film by dipping it in special chemicals.
   - _She likes to soup her own film rather than send it to a lab._
   - _Photographers soup their film at carefully controlled temperatures._

## Verb

10. To feed someone by providing soup or a meal. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To give food, especially soup, to someone.
11. To convert people to a religion by feeding the poor in exchange for their listening to one's preaching. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To win religious converts by giving food to poor people while they listen to preaching.
12. To sweep, either by brushing a surface clean or by moving along with a sweeping, stately motion, as of long trailing robes. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To sweep, either to clean a floor or to move along grandly with long clothes trailing behind.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Nitroglycerine or gelignite, especially as used to blow open safes.
- (noun) Cocaine or other narcotic drugs.
- (noun) A random starting pattern, studied to see which more stable patterns emerge as it is evolved over successive generations.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–11** — The noun comes from Middle English "soupe," from Old French "soupe," from Late Latin "suppa" ("sopped bread"), from Proto-Germanic *supô. It is a doublet of "sop" and related to "sup" and "supper." The verb comes from the noun.
**Meaning 12** — Proto-Germanic *swaipaną ("to sweep") gave Old English swāpan, with the same meaning, which became Middle English swopen.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/soup (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).