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sour
sour / ˈsou(ə)r/ • adj. having an acid taste like lemon or vinegar: she sampled the wine and found it was sour. ∎ (of food, esp. milk) spoiled because of fermentation. ∎ having a rancid smell: her breath was always sour. ∎ fig. feeling or expressing resentment, disappointment, or anger: she was quite a different woman from the sour, bored creature I had known. ∎ (of soil) deficient in lime and usually dank. ∎ (of petroleum or natural gas) containing a relatively high sulfur content. • n. a drink made by mixing an alcoholic beverage with lemon juice or lime juice: a rum sour. • v. make or become sour: [tr.] water soured with tamarind | [as adj.] (soured) soured cream | [intr.] a bowl of milk was souring in the sun. ∎ make or become unpleasant, acrimonious, or difficult: [tr.] a dispute soured relations between the two countries for over a year | [intr.] many friendships have soured over borrowed money. PHRASES: go (or turn) sour become less pleasant or attractive; turn out badly: the case concerns a property deal that turned sour. sour grapes an attitude in which someone disparages or affects to despise something because they cannot have it themselves: government officials dismissed many of the complaints as sour grapes. DERIVATIVES: sour·ish adj. sour·ly adv. sour·ness n. |
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Cite this article
"sour." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sour." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sour.html "sour." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sour.html |
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Soûr
Soûr, Lebanon Originally an important Phoenician port, it was built partly on a small rocky island as a satellite to Sidon. This name was soon changed to Tyre under which name it was regularly mentioned in the Bible. Both names derive from the Phoenician tsor ‘stone’ or ‘rock’. It was well‐known for its impregnability because of its fortifications and the fact that it was surrounded by the sea on three sides.
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Cite this article
JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Soûr." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Soûr." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Sor.html JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Soûr." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Sor.html |
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sour
sour sour grapes an expression or attitude of deliberate disparagement of a desired but unattainable object, alluding to Aesop's fable of ‘The Fox and the Grapes’, in which a fox, unable to reach a tempting bunch of grapes, comforted himself with the reflection that the fruit was probably sour and was therefore no loss.
See also the grapes are sour. |
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "sour." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "sour." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-sour.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "sour." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-sour.html |
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sour
sour of tart or acid taste OE.; bitter, extremely distasteful XII; morose, peevish XIII. OE. sūr = OS., OHG. sūr (Du. zuur, G. sauer), ON. súrr :- Gmc. *sūraz.
Hence sour vb. XIV. sourness OE. sūrnes. |
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "sour." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "sour." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-sour.html T. F. HOAD. "sour." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-sour.html |
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sour
sour
•bower, cower, devour, dower, embower, empower, endower, flour, flower, gaur, Glendower, glower, hour, lour, lower, our, plougher (US plower), power, scour, shower, sour, Stour, sweet-and-sour, tower
•Beckenbauer • Eisenhower
•Schopenhauer • safflower
•passion flower • bellflower
•mayflower • cauliflower • wallflower
•cornflour, cornflower
•sunflower • elderflower • man-hour
•Adenauer • manpower • brainpower
•willpower • horsepower • firepower
•water power • rush hour
•watchtower
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Cite this article
"sour." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sour." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sour.html "sour." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sour.html |
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