English Explanatory Dictionary

gravy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A thick sauce made from the fat or juices that come out from meat or vegetables as they are being cooked.
  2. A dark savoury sauce prepared from stock and usually meat juices; brown gravy.
  3. A pale sauce prepared from a roux with meat fat; a type of béchamel sauce.
  4. Sauce used for pasta.
  5. Curry sauce.
  6. Unearned gain; extra benefit.
verb
  1. To make gravy.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡɹeɪvi/ En-us-gravy.ogg

Word forms

gravy gravies gravying gravied

Etymology

From Middle English gravey, greavie, gravy; probably from greaves, graves (“the sediment of melted tallow”), or from Old French grave, a claimed misspelling of grané (“stew, spice”), from grain (“spice”). Sense of "pasta sauce" apparently seems to be from Italian dialect, especially Calabrian, differentiating tomato puree (salsa (“sauce”)) from cooked tomato sauce (sugo).

Related words

sauce brown sauce

Derived words

baby gravy biscuits and gravy bulldog gravy bull gravy country gravy good gravy gravy boat gravy-eyed gravyless gravylike Gravy SEAL gravy train macaroni and gravy milk gravy peyote gravy red-eye gravy red gravy sausage gravy sawmill gravy stew in one's own gravy the rest is gravy white gravy
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