Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An appetizer served before a meal.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small, light, and usually savory first
course in ameal . - noun by extension Anything of
secondary concern; not the primary one.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a dish served as an appetizer before the main meal
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French hors d'œuvre : hors, outside + de, of + œuvre, (the main) work.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From French hors d'œuvre
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Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
oroboros commented on the word hors d'oeuvre
Working women du nuit?
August 16, 2007
reesetee commented on the word hors d'oeuvre
Haha! Clever, oroboros. :-)
August 20, 2007
treeseed commented on the word hors d'oeuvre
literally meaning "outside the work"
I find this definition adds greatly to my love of the word. I am ashamed to say I have used this word all my life and I never really knew what I was saying...the French language is filled with these beautiful descriptive nouns. Another case in point pomme de terre.
April 30, 2008
renumeratedfrog commented on the word hors d'oeuvre
It simply means an "appetizer" but the funny thing about this word is that it sounds almost like the English "order" pronounced with a French accent.
August 21, 2008
bilby commented on the word hors d'oeuvre
I wonder if the Scrabble truncation is related to the lack of visuals, programming-wise.
May 9, 2014