General Tso's chicken

noun

A sweet and spicy dish of deep-fried chicken, popular in Chinese restaurants in North America.

Similar
General's chickenGeneral Tao chicken
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Meanings

nounGeneral Tso's chicken (uncountable)

alternative General Tso's · alternative General Tso · alternative General Tso chicken

  1. uncountableA sweet and spicy dish of deep-fried chicken, popular in Chinese restaurants in North America.

    Hot and sour soup, shrimp toast, shumai, General Tso’s chicken, pork with garlic sauce, beef with asparagus, hot and spicy shrimp, sushi deluxe, cheesecake, fried bananas, litchi sherbet.

    2009 May 31, Joanne Starkey, “Old-School Chinese With Efforts at Fusion”, in New York Times

    Synonyms: General's chicken, General Tao chicken

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA sweet and spicy dish of deep-fried chicken, popular in Chinese restaurants in North America.

Similar
General's chickenGeneral Tao chicken
Also see
general tao chicken

Origin

Named after Chinese general and statesman Tso Tsung-tang (Zuǒ Zōngtáng in pinyin) in late Qing dynasty, though there is no evidence connecting him with the dish. A deeper discussion of the timeframe and possible motivations behind the naming is given in the Wikipedia article.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 左宗棠雞 /左宗棠鸡
  • 左宗棠雞 /左宗棠鸡 (zuǒzōngtángjī)sweet and spicy dish
Finnish kenraali Tson kana
  • kenraali Tson kanasweet and spicy dish
French poulet du Général Tao, poulet Général Tao
  • poulet du Général Taosweet and spicy dish
  • poulet Général Taosweet and spicy dish
  • Général Taosweet and spicy dish
Russian цыплёнок генерала Цо
  • цыплёнок генерала Цо (cypljónok generala Co)sweet and spicy dish
Spanish pollo General Tao, pollo General Tsao
  • pollo General Taosweet and spicy dish
  • pollo General Tsaosweet and spicy dish
  • pollo General Gausweet and spicy dish
Cite this entry
APA

General Tso's chicken. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/General%20Tso's%20chicken

MLA

“General Tso's chicken.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/General%20Tso's%20chicken. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “General Tso's chicken,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/General%20Tso's%20chicken.

Source: General Tso's chicken on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.