soda
Americannoun
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sodas
plural
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sodium, as in carbonate of soda.
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a drink made with soda water, flavoring, such as fruit or other syrups, and often ice cream, milk, etc.
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(in faro) the card turned up in the dealing box before one begins to play.
noun
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any of a number of simple inorganic compounds of sodium, such as sodium carbonate ( washing soda ), sodium bicarbonate ( baking soda ), and sodium hydroxide ( caustic soda )
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See soda water
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a fizzy drink
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the top card of the pack in faro
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slang something easily done; a pushover
Regionalisms
See soda pop.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of soda
1550–60; (< Italian ) < Medieval Latin < Arabic suwwādah kind of plant; compare Middle French soulde, soude
Explanation
In many parts of the U.S., soda is a sweet, fizzy drink. There are also some places where you'd call soda "pop," a "soft drink," or "Coke" instead. While you may think of soda as something you order to drink at a restaurant, soda is also used for unflavored carbonated water, or seltzer, and for baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. There's also sodium carbonate, or "washing soda," which is an ingredient in powdered soap and used to make some types of glass. This kind of soda was originally used to carbonate water, which led to the use of soda to mean "carbonated drink."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Other products were scattered around, including propane gas cylinders and bags of caustic soda, in the unfinished building.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
The resurrection of that soda line also includes a zero-sugar version.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Volume is a gauge of the amount of soda sold.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Previous research has shown that sugar-sweetened soda can promote dental erosion by pushing mouth pH below 5.5.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
Cigarette butts, crushed soda cans, scraps of plastic bags, candy bar wrappers, a smushed box of half-eaten French fries.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
"Our results suggest that replacing sugar-sweetened sodas with unsweetened sparkling water may help lower the risk of enamel erosion," said Zulfiqar.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
One reader uses an insulated lunch bag with reusable ice packs, along with sodas, so she doesn’t have to pay vending machine prices.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
By the end of the night, the pavement was littered with busted watermelons, sodas and chips, according to law enforcement and social media videos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Two Brazil supporters sipped sodas a little further away.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
The first thing we did now was to go to a drugstore where my father ordered three ice-cream sodas.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
