salad

[ sal-uhd ]

noun

1. a usually cold dish consisting of vegetables, as lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, covered with a dressing and sometimes containing seafood, meat, or eggs.
2. any of various dishes consisting of foods, as meat, seafood, eggs, pasta, or fruit, prepared singly or combined, usually cut up, mixed with a dressing, and served cold:

   chicken salad; potato salad.

3. any herb or green vegetable, as lettuce, used for salads or eaten raw.
4. South Midland and Southern U.S. greens ( def 22b ).
5. any mixture or assortment:

   The usual salad of writers, artists, and musicians attended the party.

salad

/ ˈsæləd /

noun

1. a dish of raw vegetables, such as lettuce, tomatoes, etc, served as a separate course with cold meat, eggs, etc, or as part of a main course
2. any dish of cold vegetables or fruit

   fruit salad

   potato salad

3. any green vegetable used in such a dish, esp lettuce

Word History and Origins

Origin of salad¹

1350–1400; Middle English salad ( e ) < Middle French salade < Old Provençal salada < Vulgar Latin *salāta, feminine past participle of *salāre to salt, equivalent to sal-, stem of sāl salt ¹ + -āta -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of salad¹

C15: from Old French salade, from Old Provençal salada, from salar to season with salt, from Latin sal salt

Example Sentences

Discussing the wedding menu on the food podcast, the Cornish performer said that they had coronation chicken, a cold chicken salad famously created for a luncheon during Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation.

From Los Angeles Times

Early in the campaign, her answers to tough questions often devolved into word salad.

From Los Angeles Times

She grew up wrapping damp greens in linen tea towels to keep them crisp but was frustrated when her salad makings fell out of the towels.

From Los Angeles Times

In the lawsuit, his attorneys claimed that CBS deceptively edited the vice president's "word salad" to harm Trump's election chances.

From Salon

After several meetings, including one over lunch at Stewart’s office — “I can still taste the salad dressing,” Cutler said — they began to work together on “Martha.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• potato salad