Definition

1. Noun:

   • A thorough wetting: The act of making something completely soaked or drenched.
   • Pickled food: Pork trimmings or other food that has been chopped, pickled, and jellied.
   • A habitual drunkard: A person who drinks alcohol to excess regularly.

2. Verb:

   • To pickle or marinate: To cook or preserve food, especially fish like herring, in a marinade or brine.
   • To become intoxicated: To drink alcohol to the point of drunkenness.
   • To immerse briefly: To dip something into a liquid to wet, coat, or saturate it.
   • To drench or pour liquid over: To cover something with liquid by pouring it on.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The sudden downpour gave him a thorough souse. (The sudden downpour made him completely wet.)
  • He ordered a plate of souse from the deli. (He ordered a plate of pickled pork from the deli.)
  • The old souse spent his days at the bar. (The old drunkard spent his days at the bar.)

• Verb:

  • She will souse the herring in vinegar and spices. (She will pickle the herring in vinegar and spices.)
  • He tends to souse himself every weekend. (He tends to get drunk every weekend.)
  • Souse the fabric in the dye for a few seconds. (Dip the fabric in the dye for a few seconds.)
  • To cool off, he soused his head under the faucet. (To cool off, he drenched his head under the faucet.)

Advanced Usage

• "To be in a souse": To be in a state of drunkenness.
  • After the party, he was in a complete souse. (After the party, he was completely drunk.)

Variants and Related Words

• Sousing (n): The act or process of pickling or drenching.
  • The sousing of the vegetables took several days.
• Soused (adj): 1. Pickled or marinated. 2. Drunk.
  • We ate soused mackerel. (We ate pickled mackerel.)
  • He was completely soused by midnight. (He was completely drunk by midnight.)

Synonyms

• Drench: To wet thoroughly.
• Pickle: To preserve food in brine or vinegar.
• Drunkard: A person who is habitually drunk.
• Immerse: To dip or submerge in a liquid.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(This word is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions.)

Related Idioms

• "To souse one's sorrows": To drink alcohol to forget one's problems.
  • After the bad news, he went to the pub to souse his sorrows. (After the bad news, he went to the pub to drink to forget his problems.)

Noun

1. the act of making something completely wet
   • he gave it a good drenching
2. pork trimmings chopped and pickled and jelled
3. a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually

Verb

1. cook in a marinade
   • souse herring
2. become drunk or drink excessively
3. immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
   • dip the garment into the cleaning solution
   • dip the brush into the paint
4. cover with liquid; pour liquid onto
   • souse water on his hot face