broth

broth — noun

1. a light soup made from a clear liquid, sometimes served with rice or small piece

1.nounB1
Definition

a light soup made from a clear liquid, sometimes served with rice or small pieces of vegetables.

Example

The ski lodge served hot broth with rice after the snowstorm.

broth with rice

After her tooth surgery, Priya drank warm broth instead of noodles.

drink broth

Common collocations
  • hot broth
  • warm broth
  • a bowl of broth
  • a cup of broth
  • broth with rice
Synonyms
  • soup

    broader term; broth is usually thinner and clearer

  • bouillon

    more formal or food-writing language; can also mean concentrated broth

  • consomme

    a very clear, refined soup, often served in formal dining

Grammar Patterns

a bowl of broth

drink broth

broth with rice or vegetables

Usage Note

Usually served as food or as a hot drink in a bowl or cup. Distinguish from sense 2, which names the cooking liquid mainly as an ingredient for another dish.

Common Mistakes

I ate a bowl of stock for lunch.
I ate a bowl of broth for lunch.
'stock' usually names the cooking base, while 'broth' can be the light soup you serve.

2. the flavored water left from boiling foods such as meat, fish, rice, or vegetabl

2.nounB1
Definition

the flavored water left from boiling foods such as meat, fish, rice, or vegetables, often saved to give taste to soups, sauces, or other dishes.

Example

Grandpa saves the chicken broth to make noodles the next day.

save broth for another dish

The cook added more broth when the rice started to dry out.

add broth to rice

Common collocations
  • make broth
  • save the broth
  • strain the broth
  • add broth to rice
  • use broth in sauce
Synonyms
  • stock

    very close in meaning; 'stock' often sounds more technical in cooking

  • bouillon

    can mean broth, but often refers to a prepared cube, powder, or concentrate

  • cooking liquid

    broader phrase for any liquid left after cooking, not always kept for flavour

Grammar Patterns

make broth from bones or vegetables

add broth to rice or sauce

strain the broth

Usage Note

Often follows make, save, add, or strain. Distinguish from sense 1 (THIN SOUP): here the focus is the liquid used in cooking, even if nobody drinks it by itself.

Common Mistakes

Add more soup to the rice.
Add more broth to the rice.
when the liquid is being used as an ingredient, 'broth' is the more exact word.
Idioms

too many cooks spoil the broth

idiom

When too many people try to work on the same task, the result is often poor.

The group project failed because too many cooks spoil the broth.

Maya told her team, "Let's not have too many cooks spoil the broth."

Word family

  • brothy
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

For noun/2, 'broth' is the everyday word for the tasty liquid you keep after boiling meat, fish, or vegetables. 'Stock' is very close, but it often sounds more technical and is common in recipes and restaurant kitchens. 'Bouillon' can mean the same thing in food writing, though many learners meet it on packets, cubes, or powders that make broth when mixed with water. 'Cooking liquid' is the widest term: it can describe any liquid left in a pot, even if it is not rich enough to use as a soup base. Compare 'Save the broth for tomorrow's noodles', 'The recipe starts with chicken stock', 'Dissolve one bouillon cube in hot water', and 'Use a little of the cooking liquid to loosen the sauce'.

broth ↗stock ↗bouilloncooking liquid

Common collocations

Nouns

  • chicken broth
  • beef broth
  • vegetable broth
  • fish broth
  • bone broth

Phrases

  • a bowl of broth
  • a cup of broth
  • make broth from bones

Prepositions

  • broth with
  • broth for

Etymology

Old EnglishGermanicModern English

'Broth' comes from Old English 'broth' or 'broþ', a word for liquid made by boiling food. It belongs to an old Germanic family of words connected with brewing and warm cooked liquids, and it is related to words like German 'Brühe'. The meaning has stayed close to the original one in English, still referring to the liquid itself or to a light soup made from it.