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souse

 - 6 dictionary results

souse

1  [sous] verb, soused, sous⋅ing, noun
Use souse in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to plunge into water or other liquid; immerse.
2. to drench, as with water.
3. to dash or pour, as water.
4. to steep in pickling brine; pickle.
–verb (used without object)
5. to plunge into water or other liquid.
6. to be soaked or drenched.
7. to be steeping or soaking in something.
–noun
8. an act of sousing.
9. something kept or steeped in pickle, esp. the head, ears, and feet of a pig.
10. a liquid used as a pickle.
11. Slang. a drunkard.
Origin:
1350–1400; 1915–20 for def. 11; (n.) ME sows < MF souce pickled < Gmc (akin to salt 1 ); (v.) ME sousen, deriv. of the n.

Synonyms:
2. soak, wet.

souse

2  [sous] ,verb, soused, sous⋅ing, noun Archaic.
–verb (used without object)
1. to swoop down.
–verb (used with object)
2. to swoop or pounce upon.
–noun Falconry.
3. a rising while in flight.
4. a swooping or pouncing.
Origin:
1480–90; by-form of source in its earlier literal sense “rising”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To souse
souse 1   (sous)   
v.   soused, sous·ing, sous·es

v.   tr.

  1. To plunge into a liquid.

  2. To make soaking wet; drench.

  3. To steep in a mixture, as in pickling.

  4. Slang To make intoxicated.

v.   intr.
To become immersed or soaking wet.
n.  

  1. The act or process of sousing.

    1. Food steeped in pickle, especially pork trimmings.

    2. The liquid used in pickling; brine.

    3. A drunkard.

    4. A period of heavy drinking; a binge.

  3. Slang

    1. A drunkard.

    2. A period of heavy drinking; a binge.


[Middle English sousen, probably from Old French *souser, to pickle, from souz, sous, pickled meat, of Germanic origin; see sal- in Indo-European roots.]
souse 2   (sous)   
v.   soused, sous·ing, sous·es Archaic

v.   tr.
To pounce on; attack.
v.   intr.
To swoop down, as an attacking hawk does.
n.   Obsolete
A swooping motion of attack.

[From Middle English souse, swooping motion, alteration of sours, source, a rising; see source.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
souse [sɑʊs]

  1. in.
    to drink excessively; to go on a drinking bout; to get drunk. (From a word meaning “to soak or pickle.” See also soused.) : Let us retire from the table and souse in the parlor.
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

souse 
1387, "to pickle, steep in vinegar," from O.Fr. sous (adj.) "preserved in salt and vinegar," from Frank. *sultja (related to O.Saxon sultia "salt water"), from P.Gmc. *salt-, *sult- (see salt). The noun meaning "pig parts preserved and pickled" is recorded from 1391. The adj. soused "drunk" is first recorded 1613, on notion of one "pickled" in liquor.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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