noun
sauce
saws
noun
1
A liquid or semi-liquid mixture served with food to add flavor or moisture.
"She poured tomato sauce over the pasta."
"The steak came with a rich peppercorn sauce."
2
Informal: alcohol, especially when drunk to excess.
"He'd clearly had a bit too much of the sauce."
3
Informal: cheeky or disrespectful talk; backtalk.
"None of your sauce, young man."
How to Use Sauce
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA flavorful liquid served with food; informally, also slang for alcohol or cheeky backtalk.
When to use it
"The sauce" (for alcohol) and "sauce" (for cheek) are both informal/slang uses, not appropriate in formal writing.
Common pairings
tomato sauce
hot sauce
hit the sauce
Word Forms
sauced past tense, sauces plural, sauces singular
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Etymology
From Old French sause, from Latin salsus, "salted" — sauces were originally valued as a way of adding salt and flavor to plain food.