saucer
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English saucer, from Old French saussier (and feminine saussiere; hence modern French saucier m, saucière f).
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɔː.sə/
Audio (RP) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːsə(ɹ)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɔ.səɹ/, /ˈsɒ.səɹ/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈsɑ.səɹ/
NounEdit
saucer (plural saucers)
- A small shallow dish to hold a cup and catch drips.
- An object round and gently curved, shaped like a saucer.
- The saucer-shaped object could have been a UFO.
- A circular sled without runners.
- (obsolete) A small pan or other vessel-like food container in which sauce was set on a table.
- 1631, Francis [Bacon], “2. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044372886:
- Take two saucers , and strike the edge of the one against the bottom of the other , within a pail of water ; and you shall find , that as you put the saucers lower and lower , the sound groweth more flat
- A flat, shallow caisson for raising sunken ships.
- A shallow socket for the pivot of a capstan.
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
small dish
|
object shaped like a saucer
VerbEdit
saucer (third-person singular simple present saucers, present participle saucering, simple past and past participle saucered)
- (transitive) To pour (tea, etc.) from the cup into the saucer in order to cool it before drinking.
- (intransitive) Of the eyes: to become large and round.
- 2016, Ian Mitchell-Gill, Merrett's Gift
- Lydia's eyes saucered with shock. Her heart was beating very fast and all her adrenaline kicked in.
- 2016, Ian Mitchell-Gill, Merrett's Gift
AnagramsEdit
Middle EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French saussier (and feminine saussiere); equivalent to sauce + -er.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
saucer (plural saucers)
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “saucer(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-09.