sauce

 
Pronunciation: /sɔːs/

noun

[mass noun]
  • 1a liquid or semi-liquid substance served with food to add moistness and flavour: tomato sauce [count noun]: the stock cubes can be added to soups and sauces
  • North American stewed fruit, especially apples, eaten as dessert or used as a garnish.
  • 2 (the sauce) informal alcoholic drink: she’s been on the sauce for years
  • 3 informal, chiefly British impertinence; cheek: ‘None of your sauce,’ said Aunt Edie

verb

[with object]
  • 1provide a sauce for (something); season with a sauce: the vegetables were deliciously spiced and sauced
  • make more interesting and exciting: there was no consolation in saucing his ambition with fantasies of wealth
  • 2 informal be rude or impudent to (someone): a boy had sauced a monitor who wanted his shoes shined

Phrases

what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

proverb what is appropriate in one case is also appropriate in the other case in question.

Derivatives

sauceless

adjective

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French, based on Latin salsus 'salted', past participle of salere 'to salt', from sal 'salt'. Compare with salad