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:
Buildings and bridges crumpled like soggy soda crackers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Tata has been mining soda ash for years in Lake Magadi, a vast area often covered by a whitish salt crust.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
The soda flopped spectacularly when introduced in 1985, but the company soon bounced back—and so did Dyson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Choosing the diet version of a favorite soda often means consuming non-nutritive sweeteners.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
The spotty young man bought half a kilo of apples and some soda water, said his name was Zbyszek Kurowski, and asked me to eat with him in a restaurant.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
In a world where influencers warn of spiked cortisol levels and disrupted circadian rhythms, plenty of consumers are turning to prebiotic sodas, sugar-free beverages, and refreshers as substitutes.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
"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
During the May restaurant trade show, Coke showed off a new beverage machine for making so-called dirty sodas and other syrup-infused beverages at restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
We admitted we were, and she told us she’d bring us some cookies and sandwiches and sodas.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
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.
