English Explanatory Dictionary

sour

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Tasting of acidity.
  2. Made rancid by fermentation, etc.
  3. Tasting or smelling rancid.
  4. Hostile or unfriendly.
  5. Excessively acidic and thus infertile. (of soil)
  6. Containing excess sulfur. (of petroleum)
  7. Unfortunate or unfavorable.
  8. Off-pitch, out of tune.
noun
  1. The sensation of a sour taste.
  2. A drink made with whiskey, lemon or lime juice and sugar.
  3. Any cocktail containing lemon or lime juice.
  4. A sweet/candy having a sharply sour taste.
  5. A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.
  6. The acidic solution used in souring fabric.
verb
  1. To make sour.
  2. To become sour.
  3. To spoil or mar; to make disenchanted.
  4. To become disenchanted.
  5. To make (soil) cold and unproductive.
  6. To macerate (lime) and render it fit for plaster or mortar.
  7. To process (fabric) after bleaching, using hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid to wash out the lime.

Pronunciation

/ˈsaʊ.ə/ [ˈsɑːə] [ˈsɑː] /ˈsaʊ.ɚ/ en-us-sour.ogg /ˈsæɔ.ə/

Word forms

sour sourer sourest sower sowre sours souring soured no-table-tags glossary souredst soureth

Etymology

From Middle English sour, from Old English sūr (“sour”), from Proto-West Germanic *sūr, from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”), from Proto-Indo-European *súHros (“sour”). Cognate with West Frisian soer, Dutch zuur (“sour”), Low German suur, German sauer (“sour”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sur, French sur (“sour”), Faroese súrur (“sour”), Icelandic súr (“sour, bitter”), Polish ser (“cheese”), Czech sýr (“cheese”), Slovak syr (“cheese”), Russian сырой (syroj, “raw”), Ukrainian сири́й (syrýj, “raw”), Old Church Slavonic сꙑръ (syrŭ, “moist, cheese”).

Synonyms

acetose acetous acid acidulent sour tart

Antonyms

sweet

Related words

sourness

Derived words

fine and dandy like sour candy for sour apples go sour hot and sour soup leave a sour taste in one's mouth New York sour oversour sorrel sourball sour beer sourbelly sourberry sourbread sourbush sour cherry sour corn sour cream sour crude sour diesel sourdough souren sourfaced sourfaux sour fig sourful sour gas sour gourd sour grapes sour grass sourgrass sour gum sourhead sourhearted sour honey sourish sour krout sourly sour mash sour milk sour mix sourness sour note sour on sourpuss sour puss sour shchi soursop sour stomach sourstuff sour-sweet sour tooth sourweed sourwood sour worm sweet-and-sour sweet-and-sour sauce the grapes are sour anyway amaretto sour Boston sour laundry sour
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