sour·dough

[souuhr-doh, sou-er-]
noun
1.
leaven, especially fermented dough retained from one baking and used, rather than fresh yeast, to start the next.
2.
a prospector or pioneer, especially in Alaska or Canada.
3.
any longtime resident, especially in Alaska or Canada.
adjective
4.
leavened with sourdough: sourdough bread.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English; see sour, dough

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Sourdough is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Collins
World English Dictionary
sourdough (ˈsaʊəˌdəʊ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  dialect (of bread) made with fermented dough used as a leaven
 
n
2.  (in Western US, Canada, and Alaska) an old-time prospector or pioneer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sourdough
c.1300, "fermented dough," from sour + dough. The meaning "Arctic prospector or pioneer" is from 1898 Yukon gold rush, from the practice of saving a lump of fermented dough as leaven for raising bread baked during the winter.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Start off your meal with the tossed house salad, a bowl of seafood bisque or a
  serving of hot crab dip with sourdough bread.
He teaches viewers--and the ditsy host--to make bread dough, pizzas, and
  sourdough starter.
Bacteria, yeast to be specific, is what makes bread rise and gives sourdough's
  their taste.
Serve this easy-to-make, inventive salad with sourdough bread.
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