Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A spicy sauce of chopped, usually uncooked vegetables or fruit, especially tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers, used as a condiment.
  • noun A genre of Latin American music characterized by Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Cuban big-band arrangements, and elements of jazz and rock.
  • noun A dance for couples performed to this music.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable A spicy tomato sauce, often including onions and hot peppers.
  • noun uncountable, music A style of music originally from Cuba heavily influenced by Spanish rhythms and jazz.
  • noun countable, dance Any of several dances performed to Salsa music.
  • verb intransitive To dance the salsa.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun spicy sauce of tomatoes and onions and chili peppers to accompany Mexican foods

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[American Spanish, from Spanish, sauce, from Old Spanish, from Vulgar Latin *salsa; see sauce.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Spanish salsa ("sauce"), from Latin salsus ("salted"), whence also sauce (via Old French).

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Examples

  • I had to go to Costco because I was out of both salsa and jalapenos, I normally wait for payday on the 1st for my Costco shopping but I cannot live without salsa& jelapenos for my bacon omelets.

    miss-k2 Diary Entry miss-k2 2004

  • In my last week's "Strictly" debut, our romantic waltz brought out my inner princess, but this week's spicy Latin salsa is unleashing my inner tart.

    Pamela Stephenson Connolly: my Strictly debut Pamela Stephenson Connolly 2010

  • I violate this rule all the time because most Mexican food without salsa is like a day without sunshine so I dip into that repository of e-coli bacteria with abandon and do I really believe, I mean really believe, that that restaurant doesn´t pour the left over salsa from a prevous diner into you salsa bowl?

    How Y�ll Doin� ? 2007

  • The term salsa might by synonymous with chips but, realistically, there are plenty of uses for good ol 'salsa.

    Mark's Daily Apple 2009

  • Essentially, the term salsa refers to any cooked or raw sauces inspired by basic tomatoes, chili peppers and spices.

    Mark's Daily Apple 2009

  • Yet as his longtime friend and Boswell, Joe Conzo, notes in "Mambo Diablo: My Journey With Tito Puente" 2010, the percussionist, composer and bandleader apparently had a grudging respect for labels; he despised the word "salsa" as a generic indicator of Hispanic pop, but he welcomed the term "Afro-Cuban music."

    Long Live the Mambo King Will Friedwald 2011

  • Furthermore, to make chilaquiles the salsa is added to the pan with the fried tortilla strips before anything else is added to the pan, whereas with migas the salsa is added at the end.

    Migas in the morning | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2008

  • Where I come from, breaking your chip off in the salsa is a party foul.

    LEDGER SCENE TO BE CUT FROM DARK KNIGHT? 2008

  • Furthermore, to make chilaquiles the salsa is added to the pan with the fried tortilla strips before anything else is added to the pan, whereas with migas the salsa is added at the end.

    Archive 2008-05-01 Homesick Texan 2008

  • This salsa is a good combo of flavors with all of them melding nicely.

    Persimmon salsa bilbo 2005

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