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Glite Dictionary
hors d'oeuvre

hors d'oeuvre

48 8.4
A small dish you have before a main meal to make you hungry
  • noun
  • /ɔr ˈdɜrv/
translation icon : aperitivo
  • Hors d'oeuvres are now being served.
  • serve hors d'oeuvres
  • a tray of hors d'oeuvres
  • a platter of hors d'oeuvres

Just a girl ready to like pinch an hors d'oeuvre with a toothpick.

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Examples

  • How are the hors d'oeuvres?

    The In-Laws (2003)

  • Yeah, and that was just the hors d'oeuvre.

    Twist (2021)

  • We got nice little hors d'oeuvres for you and it's perfect.

  • I better go check on the hors d'oeuvres.

    Bridesmaids (2011)

  • I'll get the hors d'oeuvres.

    Spider-Man 2 (2004)

  • The price of admission includes a cool pink drink, hors d'oeuvres, and exciting entertainment.

    Blog text (27)

  • As the guests floated in, they accepted drinks and hors d'oeuvres from the passing waiters.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The room is packed with people sipping exotic cocktails, munching hors d'oeuvres.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The lobby is filled with business types, waiters circulating with champagne, and tiny hors d'oeuvres.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • As the party began, a platter of hors d'oeuvre was placed on the table to welcome the guests.

Synonyms

appetizer
vshors d'oeuvre
  • US
103 2.6

A small food or drink served before a main meal to make you hungry

limits this to small food dishes rather than drinks
starter
vshors d'oeuvre
  • UK
9 1.9

A small dish served before the main course to begin a meal

focuses on stimulating appetite rather than only being the first course
light appetizer
vshors d'oeuvre
3.2

A small not heavy dish served before the main meal to make you want to eat

is the same but without the emphasis on lightness
bonne bouche
vshors d'oeuvre
9.9

A small very tasty piece of food served before the main meal

serves the same pre-meal role but with less emphasis on delicacy

How Filling

main course
28 1.3
hors d'oeuvre
48 8.4
canape
1 6.3

Surface Forms

hors d'oeuvre singular
hors d'oeuvres plural

Morphology

hors + d'oeuvre

This is a fixed French culinary loanphrase whose parts are not English words for an average B1 learner; the meaning 'small dish served before the main course' cannot be derived from the visible constituents. Even for learners who know the French elements, the literal sense (historically 'outside the work') does not transparently yield the modern culinary sense, so the expression functions as an idiomatic set phrase in English.

Etymology

Hors d'oeuvre comes from French; the parts hors and oeuvre literally mean 'outside the work', which creates the image of a small dish served outside the main part of a meal. That's why hors d'oeuvre now means a small plate served before the main course to make you hungry.