Definition

1. Noun:
   • A dish consisting of various kinds of fruit, often cut into pieces and mixed together: "fruit salad" refers to a cold dish, typically served as a dessert, side dish, or snack, made from a mixture of chopped or sliced fruits. It may be served plain or with a dressing such as syrup, juice, yogurt, or cream.

Usage

• As a countable noun: Refers to a specific serving or type of this dish.
  • Would you like some fruit salad for dessert?
  • She prepared three different fruit salads for the party.
• As an uncountable noun: Refers to the food substance in general.
  • This café serves excellent fruit salad.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• "fruit salad" as a metaphor: Informally used to describe a mixture or assortment of diverse elements.
  • His explanation was a fruit salad of technical terms and anecdotes. (This usage is idiomatic and not related to the food.)
• Compound Modifier: Used attributively before another noun.
  • a fruit-salad bowl (a bowl intended for serving fruit salad)

Variants and Related Words

• Fruit cup (n): A similar dish where fruit pieces are served in a cup, often with syrup, but it is typically a single serving prepared in advance, whereas "fruit salad" is often mixed in a larger bowl.
• Ambrosia (n): A specific type of fruit salad common in the United States, often containing canned fruit, coconut, marshmallows, and a creamy dressing.

Synonyms

• Fruit mix: A less common term for a mixture of fruits.
• Macedoine (of fruit): A culinary term for diced fruit (or vegetables).

Related Phrases

• To make a fruit salad: The action of preparing the dish.
  • The children helped to make a fruit salad for the picnic.
• A bowl of fruit salad: A common phrase describing a serving.

Idioms

• "A fruit salad": In informal contexts, can describe something colorful, mixed, or jumbled.
  • Her new dress is a real fruit salad of patterns and colors. (This is a figurative, idiomatic extension of the core meaning.)

Noun

1. salad composed of fruits