burgoo
Americannoun
plural
burgoos-
a thick oatmeal gruel, especially as eaten by sailors.
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Chiefly Kentucky and Tennessee.
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a thick, highly seasoned soup or stew, usually made of chicken or small game and corn, tomatoes, and onions.
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a picnic or other gathering at which burgoo is served.
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noun
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slang nautical porridge
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a thick highly seasoned soup or stew of meat and vegetables
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a picnic or gathering at which such soup is served
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Etymology
Origin of burgoo
1735–45; perhaps ultimately < Arabic burghul, burghūl cracked wheat ( see bulgur), though immediate source is uncertain
Explanation
Burgoo is a hearty stew, made with various meats and vegetables, that originated in Kentucky. Traditionally, burgoo was cooked in large amounts to feed a lot of people at social gatherings. Burgoo is a regional specialty that often shows up at Kentucky Derby parties and barbecue restaurants in the Upper South. Just about every part of the United States has a similar type of dish, from gumbo to mulligan stew to Brunswick stew, that's made with a variety of available ingredients. Tomatoes, corn, okra, lima beans, beef, mutton, chicken, rabbit, and squirrel are all traditionally found in burgoo. The exact origin of this stew, including its name, remains a mystery.
Vocabulary lists containing burgoo
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.
Navigating only 8,600 seats and a slower pace, you can take your time moving from betting window to bourbon bar to burgoo stand.
From Washington Post • Sep. 22, 2021
The menu will be inspired by the show, with items like clam chowder, burgoo and oysters Rockefeller.
From New York Times • May 31, 2011
Juicy as the burgoo were the business prospects of each & every tobacco farmer at Carrollton and of thousands of their colleagues throughout the burley belt.
From Time Magazine Archive
To insure the success of their first show, Carrollton businessmen had gone over to Lexington to fetch grey-thatched, handsome old James T. Looney, best brewer of burgoo stew in northern Kentucky.
From Time Magazine Archive
Along the midway the Anti-Horse-Thief Society had a stand selling burgoo and roasting ears.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
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.
