chicken soup

noun

Any soup made with either pieces of chicken or chicken broth as its main ingredient.

“Duct tape is the chicken soup of plumbing.”

Similar
chicken noodle souppanacea
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Meanings

nounchicken soup (countable and uncountable, plural chicken soups)

plural chicken soups

  1. countableliterallyuncountableAny soup made with either pieces of chicken or chicken broth as its main ingredient.

    Chicken soup is proverbial as a wholesome food whose nutrients will help your body recover from illness.

    1 more example

    He should have guessed that her great-great-grandmother's secret chicken soup recipe was a can from the store.

  2. countablefigurativelyuncountableA cure for a wide variety of illnesses or other problems.

    Duct tape is the chicken soup of plumbing.

    Synonyms: chicken noodle soup, panacea

  3. countablefigurativelyuncountableA mixed-up mush.

    His hand got caught in a meat grinder and turned into chicken soup.

  4. countablehistoricalslanguncountablebiochemistryThe aqueous solution of nutrients used in the Viking lander biological experiments to detect microbial Martian life.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA cure for a wide variety of illnesses or other problems.

Similar
chicken noodle souppanacea
Also see
chicken noodle souppanacea

Origin

The figurative sense comes from the fact that the soup is a folk remedy for colds.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 雞湯 /鸡汤
  • 雞湯 /鸡汤 (jītāng)soup with chicken as main ingredient
Danish hønsekødssuppe
  • hønsekødssuppesoup with chicken as main ingredient
Dutch kippensoep
  • kippensoepsoup with chicken as main ingredient
Finnish kanakeitto
  • kanakeittosoup with chicken as main ingredient
French soupe de poulet
  • soupe de pouletsoup with chicken as main ingredient
German Hühnersuppe
  • Hühnersuppesoup with chicken as main ingredient
Greek κοτόσουπα
  • κοτόσουπα (kotósoupa)soup with chicken as main ingredient
Hungarian csirkehúsleves
  • csirkehúslevessoup with chicken as main ingredient
Irish sú circe
  • sú circesoup with chicken as main ingredient
Italian brodo
  • brodosoup with chicken as main ingredient
Japanese チキンスープ
  • チキンスープ (chikinsūpu)soup with chicken as main ingredient
Norwegian Bokmål kyllingsuppe
  • kyllingsuppesoup with chicken as main ingredient
Polish rosół
  • rosółsoup with chicken as main ingredient
Portuguese canja
  • canjasoup with chicken as main ingredient
Russian кури́ный суп
  • кури́ный суп (kurínyj sup)soup with chicken as main ingredient
Slovak slepačia polievka
  • slepačia polievkasoup with chicken as main ingredient
Spanish sopa de pollo, caldo de pollo
  • sopa de pollosoup with chicken as main ingredient
  • caldo de pollosoup with chicken as main ingredient
Swedish kycklingsoppa
  • kycklingsoppasoup with chicken as main ingredient
Thai ซุปไก่
  • ซุปไก่soup with chicken as main ingredient
Turkish tavuk çorbası
  • tavuk çorbasısoup with chicken as main ingredient
Yiddish גאָלדענע יויך
  • גאָלדענע יויך (goldene yoykh)soup with chicken as main ingredient
Cite this entry
APA

chicken soup. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken%20soup

MLA

“chicken soup.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken%20soup. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chicken soup,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken%20soup.

Source: chicken soup on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.