souse1

[sous] /saʊs/
verb (used with object), soused, sousing.
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), soused, sousing.
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, especially 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; (noun) Middle English sows < Middle French souce pickled < Germanic (akin to salt1); (v.) Middle English sousen, derivative of the noun
Synonyms
2. soak, wet.

souse2

[sous] /saʊs/
verb (used without object), soused, sousing.
1.
to swoop down.
verb (used with object), soused, sousing.
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”
Examples from the web for souse
  • We also process cooked pork chitterlings, souse meat, and c-loaf.
  • Then anyone broke a rule he got the leggin's or a souse in the river.
  • If present or cannot be ruled out, al souse metronidazole.
  • No matter whether it is partisan or not, if it is fortified by reason and financial souse.
British Dictionary definitions for souse

souse1

/saʊs/
verb
1.
to plunge (something, oneself, etc) into water or other liquid
2.
to drench or be drenched
3.
(transitive) to pour or dash (liquid) over (a person or thing)
4.
to steep or cook (food) in a marinade
5.
(transitive; usually passive) (slang) to make drunk
noun
6.
the liquid or brine used in pickling
7.
the act or process of sousing
8.
(slang) a habitual drunkard
Word Origin
C14: from Old French sous, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German sulza brine

souse2

/saʊs/
verb (intransitive)
1.
often foll by on or upon. to swoop suddenly downwards (on a prey)
noun
2.
a sudden downward swoop
Word Origin
C16: perhaps a variant of obsolete vb sense of source
Word Origin and History for souse
v.

late 14c., "to pickle, steep in vinegar," from Old French sous (adj.) "preserved in salt and vinegar," from Frankish *sultja or some other Germanic source (cf. Old Saxon sultia "salt water," Old High German sulza "brine"), from Proto-Germanic *salt- (see salt (n.)). Related: Soused; sousing.

n.

something steeped in pickle, especially "pig parts preserved and pickled," mid-15c., earlier "liquid for pickling" (late 14c.), from souse (v.) or from its French source.

Slang definitions & phrases for souse

souse

noun
  1. A drunkard; lush: A wonderful thyroid substance sobered up the souse in 30 minutes (1906+)
  2. Drunkenness; intoxication: Economic and religious saviors give a new kind of emotional souse (1903+)

[fr an extension of souse, ''pickle brine, something pickled,'' hence semantically akin to soak, ''drunkard,'' and pickled, ''drunk'']