soy sauce

noun

variants or less commonly soy or chiefly British soya sauce

: a brown, salty liquid that is made by subjecting soybeans and roasted grain (such as wheat) to long fermentation in brine and is used especially in Asian cooking and as a condiment

At its most basic, soy sauce is a fermented liquid made from soybeans and wheat. Soybeans contribute a strong, pungent taste, while wheat lends sweetness.

—Lisa McManus

My most recent kick has been Chinese. For more than a year now I've been stir-frying everything in ginger and garlic and adding soy sauce.

—Andrew A. Rooney

see shoyu

Examples of soy sauce in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Add the thyme, rosemary, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, plus 2½ cups water. —CBS News, 21 Nov. 2025

Throw in a bottle of artisanal soy sauce ($19 for five hundred millilitres) from the cookbook author Clarissa Wei’s new brand, Heydoh, for your recipient to drizzle on their perfect, and perfected, rice. —Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025

Made with soy sauce, ginger, rice wine, and finished with scallions, this soup is bursting with rich flavor. —Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 6 Nov. 2025

Taste for seasoning, and add a little salt or soy sauce if needed. —Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1775, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for soy sauce

• across
• backcross
• crisscross
• lacrosse
• recross
• tomas
• albatross
• applesauce
• barabbas
• helios
• kshatriyas
• blas

Kids Definition

soy sauce

noun

: a brown sauce made from soybeans and used especially in Chinese and Japanese cooking