Dictionary

sweet-and-sour en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. Having both sweet and sour or tart taste.
2. Having both positive and negative traits, or inspiring conflicting good and bad feelings.
   • Humans utilize a kind of sweet and sour blend of love potion called charm. 2014, Lloyd E. McIlveen, Improving on Love and Relationships:
   • Like an accordion at a country wedding producing sweet-and-sour notes, some importers are expanding their U.S. retail automotive operations while others are skinnying down. 1982, Ward's Auto World, volume 18, numbers 1-6, page 65:

Forms

Deriveds

sweet-and-sour sauce

Synonyms

bittersweet (inspiring good and bad feelings)

Translations (26)

gl agridoce (combined sweet and sour taste) · yue 甜酸 (combined sweet and sour taste) · my ချိုချဉ် (combined sweet and sour taste) · fi hapanimelä (combined sweet and sour taste) · id keluyuk (combined sweet and sour taste) · ru ки́сло-сла́дкий (combined sweet and sour taste) · de süßsauer (combined sweet and sour taste) · tl agridulse (combined sweet and sour taste) · cmn 糖醋 (combined sweet and sour taste) · es agridulce (combined sweet and sour taste) · cmn 酸甜 (combined sweet and sour taste) · he חמוץ מתוק (combined sweet and sour taste) · cs sladkokyselý (combined sweet and sour taste) · pt agridoce (combined sweet and sour taste) · uk ки́сло-соло́дкий (combined sweet and sour taste) · cmn 甜酸 (combined sweet and sour taste) · sv sötsur (combined sweet and sour taste) · fa ملس (combined sweet and sour taste) · hi खटमिट्ठा (combined sweet and sour taste) · id asam manis (combined sweet and sour taste) · grc ὀξύγλυκυς (combined sweet and sour taste) · ota مایخوش (combined sweet and sour taste) · nl zoetzuur (combined sweet and sour taste) · id koloke (combined sweet and sour taste) · tr mayhoş (combined sweet and sour taste) · uk ви́нний (combined sweet and sour taste)

sweet-and-sour en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Any dish that combines sweet and sour flavours, especially
   • There is a strong German ethnic streak in rural western Maryland and it shows in the cooking with its sweet-and-sours. 1986, Fortitudine, page 3:
2. (countable, uncountable) Any dish that combines sweet and sour flavours, especially: ▸ A Chinese-style dish with sweet-and-sour sauce.
   • This evening, Willy took me to eat at the Bamboo Palace. He had sweet and sour with two kinds of noodles and I had bean hot-pot. 2012 May 3, Doris Paterson, Willy & Me, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 70:
   • First we had tossed green salad, prepared by Sister McDonald and our two new members, and then our Chinese food - chow mein, rice, egg foo young, sweet and sours, bread sticks, chinese tea with fortune cakes, prepared and served by our Brother Yardmasters for a "Chinese Food" dinner. 1949, The Railroad Yardmaster:
   • In contrast, this definitely isn't 'real' China – sticky sweet-and-sours and egg foo yong are the rule here – but it's quiet, cosy and tasty, and the price is right. 2009, Nepal:
   • Breakfast is served until 11am, after which delicious chilled beans, sweet and sours, and stir fries appear for around RM3 a portion. 2003, Charles de Ledesma, Mark Lewis, Pauline Savage, Rough Guides (Firm), Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 417:
3. (countable, uncountable) Any dish that combines sweet and sour flavours, especially: ▸ Candy with a sour taste, often dusted with fizzy sherbet.
   • No overwhelming sweetness, but a cool, refreshing after taste in your mints that lets delicate natural flavors come through. Same for tabletted sweet and sours, or gums 1970, Candy and Baked Snack Industry:
   • There are elderberry balls, boiled sweets with paper mottos, Katrien's caramels, candied anise, liquorice chew sticks and black liquorice laces, sweet-and-sours, and tart strawberry drops, all lined up in large glass jars. 2016 June 30, Stefan Hertmans, War and Turpentine, Random House, →ISBN:
   • Tala swore Jameson's face when she went down on him with a mouth still zinging from the sweet and sours she'd necked on the coach looked like he'd contracted something. 2022 October 6, Amy Beashel, We Are All Constellations, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
4. (countable, uncountable) Any dish that combines sweet and sour flavours, especially: ▸ A sweetened sour pickle, or a combination of sweet and sour pickles.
   • Try the Pennsylvania Dutch idea of "sweet and sours" and put both a sweet conserve or chutney and a dish of pickles on the table.) 1962 07, House & Garden:
   • Sweet and sours are in sellers' favor as spot stocks are light and the market in the country is rather bullish and advancing. 1923, Western Canner and Packer:
   • Honey dills, bread n' butters, sweet and sours, gherkins, mustard pickles and relishes: everything's here. 2011 July 20, Thom Rock, Blueberry Fool: Memory, Moments, and Meaning, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN:

Forms

Relateds

barbecue sauce · agrodolce