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from soup to nuts

 - 4 dictionary results

soup

[soop] ,
–noun
1. a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, or vegetables with various added ingredients.
2. Slang. a thick fog.
3. Slang. added power, esp. horsepower.
4. Slang. nitroglycerine.
5. Photography Slang. developing solution.
6. soup up, Slang.
a. to improve the capacity for speed or increase the efficiency of (a motor or engine) by increasing the richness of the fuel mixture or the efficiency of the fuel, or by adjusting the engine.
b. to give spirit or vivacity to; enliven: a political rally souped up by the appearance of the candidates.
7. from soup to nuts,
a. from the first through the last course of a meal.
b. from beginning to end; to a complete, encompassing degree; leaving nothing out.
8. in the soup, Informal. in trouble: He'll be in the soup when the truth comes out.

Origin:
1645–55; 1940–45 for def. 6; < F soupe, OF souppe, sope < Gmc; cf. D sopen to dunk. See sop


soupless, adjective
souplike, adjective


1. broth, stock, potage.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
soup

  1. n.
    nitroglycerin, a liquid explosive. (Underworld.) : Lefty was a master with the soup till he blew off his hand.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

soup  (v.)
"increase the horsepower of an engine," 1921, probably from soup (n.) in slang sense of "narcotic injected into horses to make them run faster" (1911), influenced by supercharge (v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

from soup to nuts

Also, from A to Z or start to finish or stem to stern. From beginning to end, throughout, as in We went through the whole agenda, from soup to nuts, or She had to learn a whole new system from A to Z, or It rained from start to finish, or We did over the whole house from stem to stern. The first expression, with its analogy to the first and last courses of a meal, appeared in slightly different forms (such as from potage to cheese) from the 1500s on; the precise wording here dates only from the mid-1900s. The second expression alludes to the first and last letters of the Roman alphabet; see also alpha and omega. The third comes from racing and alludes to the entire course of the race; it dates from the mid-1800s. The last variant is nautical, alluding to the front or stem, and rear or stern, of a vessel.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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