souse
1 of 3verb (1)
ˈsau̇s 
soused; sousing
transitive verb
1
: pickle
2
a
: to plunge in liquid : immerse
b
: drench, saturate
3
: to make drunk
intransitive verb
: to become immersed or drenched
souse
2 of 3noun
1
: something pickled
especially : seasoned and chopped pork trimmings, fish, or shellfish
2
: an act of sousing : wetting
3
a
: a habitual drunkard
b
: a drinking spree : binge
souse
3 of 3verb (2)
soused; sousing
intransitive verb
archaic : to swoop down : plunge
transitive verb
archaic : to swoop down on
Synonyms
Verb (1)
- bathe
- bedraggle
- douse
- dowse
- drench
- drown
- soak
- sodden
- sop
- wash
- water
- water-soak
- waterlog
- wet
- wet down
Noun
- alcoholic
- alkie [slang]
- alky
- boozehound
- boozer
- dipsomaniac
- drinker
- drunk
- drunkard
- inebriate
- juicehead [slang]
- juicer [slang]
- lush
- rummy
- soak
- soaker
- sot
- tippler
- toper
- tosspot
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun an old souse who lumbered home with a full bottle of gin in him every night
Word History
Etymology
Verb (1)
Middle English, from Anglo-French suz, souce pickling juice, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German sulza brine, Old English sealt salt
Verb (2)
Middle English souce, noun, start of a bird's flight, alteration of sours, probably from Anglo-French surse source — more at source
First Known Use
Verb (1)
14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb (2)
1567, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense
sousing
verb
1
as in wetting
to make wet a passing car barreled through the puddle and soused us good Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- wetting
- washing
- drowning
- drenching
- flooding
- soaking
- bathing
- rinsing
- watering
- dousing
- sopping
- flushing
- waterlogging
- dipping
- sprinkling
- water-soaking
- bedraggling
- moistening
- splashing
- submerging
- wetting down
- showering
- damping
- soddening
- humidifying
- drizzling
- dowsing
- laving
- deluging
- sluicing
- saturating
- moisturizing
- hydrating
- inundating
- dampening
- overflowing
- dunking
- swamping
- misting
- sloshing
- aspersing
- bedewing
- ducking
- irrigating
- rewashing
- impregnating
- rehydrating
- steeping
- rewetting
- hosing (down)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- drying
- searing
- scorching
- parching
- evaporating
- desiccating
- dehydrating
- dewatering
- wringing
- drip-drying
- dehumidifying
- freeze-drying
2
as in dipping
to sink or push (something) briefly into or as if into a liquid repeatedly soused the tools in the tub to get the dirt off Synonyms & Similar Words
- dipping
- dunking
- immersing
- ducking
- drowning
- dousing
- sopping
- submerging
- wetting
- soaking
- bathing
- submersing
- drenching
- moistening
- plunging
- flooding
- dowsing
- thrusting
- diving
- steeping
3
as in soaking
to wet thoroughly with liquid firefighters soused the neighboring houses so that they wouldn't catch fire as well Synonyms & Similar Words
- soaking
- drenching
- drowning
- saturating
- macerating
- dipping
- sopping
- washing
- impregnating
- submerging
- immersing
- steeping
- soddening
- marinating
- bathing
- penetrating
- waterlogging
- watering
- swilling
- seething
- dousing
- moistening
- presoaking
- water-soaking
- inundating
- swamping
- humidifying
- permeating
- hydrating
- infiltrating
- damping
- dampening
- dowsing
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- drying
- searing
- emptying
- draining
- dehydrating
- wringing (out)
- parching
- desiccating
- voiding
- dehumidifying