ər adjective
1.
having an acid taste, resembling that of vinegar, lemon juice, etc.; tart.
2.
rendered acid or affected by fermentation; fermented.
3.
producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not bitter, salt, or sweet.
4.
characteristic of something fermented: a sour smell.
5.
distasteful or disagreeable; unpleasant.
noun
11.
something that is sour.
12.
any of various cocktails consisting typically of whiskey or gin with lemon or lime juice and sugar and sometimes soda water, often garnished with a slice of orange, a maraschino cherry, or both.
13.
an acid or an acidic substance used in laundering and bleaching to neutralize alkalis and to decompose residual soap or bleach.
00:10
Sour
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
verb (used without object)
14.
to become sour, rancid, mildewed, etc.; spoil: Milk sours quickly in warm weather. The laundry soured before it was ironed.
15.
to become unpleasant or strained; worsen; deteriorate: Relations between the two countries have soured.
16.
to become bitter, disillusioned, or disinterested: I guess I soured when I learned he was married. My loyalty soured after his last book.
17.
Agriculture. (of soil) to develop excessive acidity.
verb (used with object)
18.
to make sour; cause sourness in: What do they use to sour the mash?
19.
to cause spoilage in; rot: Defective cartons soured the apples.
20.
to make bitter, disillusioned, or disagreeable: One misadventure needn't have soured him. That swindle soured a great many potential investors.
Origin:
before 1000; (adj. and noun) Middle English sure, soure, Old English sūr (orig. adj.); cognate with German sauer, Dutch zuur, Old Norse sūrr; (v.) Middle English souren, derivative of the adj.
before 1000; (adj. and noun) Middle English sure, soure, Old English sūr (orig. adj.); cognate with German sauer, Dutch zuur, Old Norse sūrr; (v.) Middle English souren, derivative of the adj.
Related forms
sour·ish, adjective
sour·ly, adverb
sour·ness, noun
o·ver·sour, adjective
o·ver·sour·ly, adverb
Synonyms
5. bitter. 7. severe, testy, touchy, acrimonious, cross, petulant, crabbed.
5. bitter. 7. severe, testy, touchy, acrimonious, cross, petulant, crabbed.
Antonyms
1. sweet.
1. sweet.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To sour
Collins
World English Dictionary
sour (ˈsaʊə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | Compare bitter having or denoting a sharp biting taste like that of lemon juice or vinegar |
| 2. | made acid or bad, as in the case of milk or alcohol, by the action of microorganisms |
| 3. | having a rancid or unwholesome smell |
| 4. | (of a person's temperament) sullen, morose, or disagreeable |
| 5. | (esp of the weather or climate) harsh and unpleasant |
| 6. | disagreeable; distasteful: a sour experience |
| 7. | (of land, etc) lacking in fertility, esp due to excessive acidity |
| 8. | (of oil, gas, or petrol) containing a relatively large amount of sulphur compounds |
| 9. | go sour, turn sour to become unfavourable or inharmonious: his marriage went sour |
| —n | |
| 10. | something sour |
| 11. | chiefly (US) any of several iced drinks usually made with spirits, lemon juice, and ice: a whiskey sour |
| 12. | an acid used in laundering and bleaching clothes or in curing animal skins |
| —vb | |
| 13. | to make or become sour |
| [Old English sūr; related to Old Norse sūrr, Lithuanian suras salty, Old Slavonic syrŭ wet, raw, surovu green, raw, Sanskrit surā brandy] | |
| 'sourish | |
| —adj | |
| 'sourly | |
| —adv | |
| 'sourness | |
| —n | |
| Sour (sʊə) | |
| —n | |
| a variant spelling of Sur | |
| Sur or Sour (sʊə) | |
| —n | |
| transliteration of the Arabic name for Tyre | |
| Sour or Sour | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
sour
O.E. sur, from P.Gmc. *suraz (cf. O.N. surr, M.Du. suur, Du. zuur, O.H.G. sur, Ger. Sauer), from PIE base *suro- "sour, salty, bitter" (cf. O.C.S. syru, Rus. syroi "moist, raw;" Lith. suras "salty," suris "cheese"). Fr. sur "sour, tart" (12c.) is a Gmc. loan-word. The verb is attested from c.1300. Sense
in whisky sour is from 1885. Sourpuss first attested 1937. Sourball is from 1900 as "constantly grumbling person," 1933 as a type of candy. Sour cream is attested from 1855.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The compounds had no effect on salty, sour, bitter or umami tasting.
All of them remained keen, even when credit markets turned sour.
Food comes in four flavors: sweet, sour, bitter and salty.
On the other side things turned sour for government and society with high deficits and high unemployment figures.
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
