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sourdough

American  
[souuhr-doh, sou-er-] / ˈsaʊərˌdoʊ, ˈsaʊ ər- /

noun

  1. fermented dough retained from one baking and used as leaven, rather than fresh yeast, to start the next.

  2. bread leavened with this fermented dough.

    Pick up a loaf of sourdough and a baguette, too.

  3. a prospector or pioneer, especially in Alaska or Canada.

  4. any longtime resident, especially in Alaska or Canada.

adjective

  1. leavened with sourdough.

    sourdough bread.
sourdough British  
/ ˈsaʊəˌdəʊ /

adjective

  1. dialect (of bread) made with fermented dough used as a leaven

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. (in Western US, Canada, and Alaska) an old-time prospector or pioneer

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of sourdough

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English: literally, “leaven, leavened bread” ; sour, dough

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.