soup

soup — noun

1. a warm or hot liquid dish made by cooking meat, vegetables, fish, or grains in w

1.nounA2
Definition

a warm or hot liquid dish made by cooking meat, vegetables, fish, or grains in water or flavoured cooking liquid until their flavours blend together.

Example

On cold winter nights, Wren enjoys a bowl of hot chicken soup with noodles.

collocation: bowl of soup / chicken soup

The chef simmered the vegetable soup for two hours to bring out the flavour.

Common collocations
  • chicken soup
  • tomato soup
  • bowl of soup
  • hot soup
  • homemade soup
  • canned soup
  • soup kitchen
Synonyms
  • broth

    a thin, clear soup made by simmering meat or vegetables, often used as a base for other soups

  • stew

    thicker than soup, with larger chunks of meat and vegetables and less liquid

  • chowder

    a thick soup containing fish, seafood, or corn, often made with milk or cream

  • bisque

    a smooth, creamy soup usually made from shellfish

Grammar Patterns

a bowl/cup of soup

[type] soup

Usage Note

Most commonly uncountable (some soup, a lot of soup), but countable when referring to specific varieties (three soups of the day).

Common Mistakes

I ate a soup for lunch.
I had some soup for lunch.
Soup is generally uncountable; use 'some' or 'a bowl of' rather than 'a'.

2. any substance that has a thick, wet consistency similar to that of liquid food,

2.nounB2
Definition

any substance that has a thick, wet consistency similar to that of liquid food, such as fog, mud, or a chemical mixture.

Example

A thick soup of fog covered the harbour, making it hard for ships to dock.

metaphor: a soup of fog

The rain turned the dirt road into a muddy soup that splashed onto our boots.

Common collocations
  • soup of fog
  • muddy soup
  • thick soup
Synonyms
  • sludge

    thick, soft mud or a semi-solid waste; implies dirtiness more strongly than soup

  • slurry

    a thin mixture of a solid and a liquid; more technical and industrial

Grammar Patterns

a soup of [substance]

[adjective] soup

Usage Note

Used descriptively to give a vivid image of a thick, often unpleasant liquid mixture. Not a technical term — it is a figurative extension of sense 1.

3. a messy collection of ideas, things, or parts that are mixed together and hard t

3.nounB2
Definition

a messy collection of ideas, things, or parts that are mixed together and hard to separate or make sense of.

Example

His essay was a soup of unrelated ideas with no clear argument or direction.

metaphor: a soup of [unrelated things]

The meeting turned into a soup of complaints, with nobody agreeing on a plan.

Common collocations
  • soup of ideas
  • confusing soup
  • soup of complaints
Synonyms
  • mishmash

    a confused mixture of things; more informal and often implies low quality

  • jumble

    an untidy collection of things; can refer to physical objects or ideas

  • hodgepodge

    a mixed collection of different things; similar to mishmash but more common in American English

Antonyms
  • order

    a state where things are arranged neatly or logically

Grammar Patterns

a soup of [plural noun]

Usage Note

Always used figuratively. Unlike sense 1, which refers to actual liquid food, this sense describes abstract mixtures of ideas or spoken content.

4. the mixture of organic chemicals and water that scientists believe existed on th

4.nounC1
Definition

the mixture of organic chemicals and water that scientists believe existed on the early Earth before any form of life appeared. The first living cells may have developed from this mixture.

Example

The experiment tried to recreate the conditions of the primordial soup inside a glass flask.

domain: primordial soup in origin-of-life theories

Some scientists think life formed in the warm primordial soup of ancient oceans.

Common collocations
  • primordial soup
  • warm primordial soup
  • primordial soup theory

Grammar Patterns

primordial soup

Usage Note

Almost always used with the adjective 'primordial' as part of the fixed scientific term 'primordial soup'. Avoid using 'soup' alone for this meaning.

5. a difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation — used almost exclusively in

5.nounB1
Definition

a difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation — used almost exclusively in the fixed expression 'in the soup'.

Example

When Brian forgot his wife's birthday, he was really in the soup.

idiom: in the soup = in trouble

The company landed in the soup after the manager was caught stealing money.

Common collocations
  • in the soup
  • land in the soup
  • get in the soup
Synonyms
  • trouble

    a general word for difficulty or problems; broader and more formal than 'in the soup'

  • hot water

    an idiom with the same meaning and formality as 'in the soup'

  • a pickle

    informal; suggests a difficult or awkward situation often caused by one's own actions

Grammar Patterns

be in the soup

land/get in the soup

Usage Note

This sense only appears in the fixed phrase 'in the soup'. Do not use 'soup' alone or with other prepositions to mean trouble. More common in British English than American English.

Common Mistakes

I am in soup now.
I am in the soup now.
The definite article 'the' is required before 'soup' in this idiom.
Idioms

from soup to nuts

idiom

It means including everything from the start to the finish.

Maya explained the entire project from soup to nuts.

Did Brian read the report from soup to nuts?

in the soup

idiom

It means being in a difficult or unpleasant situation.

After losing the key, Diego found himself in the soup.

Sara is in the soup because she missed the deadline.

Word family

  • soupy
    adjectiveB2
  • soup kitchen
    nounB1
  • soup spoon
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

While all four words refer to cooked liquid dishes, they differ in thickness, ingredients, and cultural associations. Broth is the thinnest — a clear, strained liquid from simmering meat or vegetables, often used as a base for other dishes. Stew is much thicker, with chunky pieces of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in a small amount of liquid; it is eaten as a main course rather than a starter. Chowder is a thick, creamy soup from North America, typically containing seafood (clam chowder) or corn, with milk or cream as a base. Bisque is a smooth, rich, creamy soup originally made from shellfish (lobster, crab), now also used for vegetable purées. For everyday meals, broth is lighter than soup, stew is heartier, chowder is creamier, and bisque is the most refined and expensive.

broth ↗stewchowderbisque

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

Proto-GermanicLate LatinFrenchEnglish

The word soup entered English from French 'soupe' in the 1600s, originally meaning bread soaked in broth. The French term came from Late Latin 'suppa' (bread soaked in broth), which in turn came from a Proto-Germanic root '*supô' meaning broth or liquid food. The original idea was not the liquid itself but the bread that soaked it up. Over time, the meaning shifted to refer to the liquid part, and the bread-on-top association faded.