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Glite Dictionary
mint sauce

mint sauce

1 1.0
A sauce made from mint, vinegar and sugar that is served with lamb
  • noun
  • /mɪnt sɔs/
  • UK
translation icon : salsa de menta
  • One minute you've had super noodles with Greek yogurt, mint sauce and Parmesan.
  • mint sauce with lamb
  • mint sauce and potatoes

One minute you've had super noodles with Greek yogurt, mint sauce and Parmesan.

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Examples

  • Put in mushy peas, mint sauce, chutney, maybe some crackling.

    Zoe Sugg

  • Spiced goat with couscous and mint sauce.

    Fortress (2012)

  • - Well, you could get the mint sauce when you got the lamb.

    Remember Me (2022)

  • - I haven't got any mint sauce.

    Remember Me (2022)

  • Candlelight, mint sauce, and cranberries.

    Some Like It Hot (1959)

  • Roast lamb with mint sauce, newish potatoes, and carrots.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Mint sauce or cranberries?

    Some Like It Hot (1959)

  • Mum places the Sunday dinner on the table: roast lamb, roast potatoes, peas, carrots, mint sauce, and gravy.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The chef served lamb chops with a rich mint sauce on the side.

  • For dinner, we enjoyed grilled lamb accompanied by homemade mint sauce.

Surface Forms

mint sauce singular
mint sauces plural

Morphology

mint + sauce

The meaning 'a sauce made from mint' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'mint' (the herb) with 'sauce' (a condiment). This is a straightforward culinary compound found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Mint sauce gets its name from the clear picture of chopped mint leaves mixed into a tangy sauce. This green, tangy sauce was traditionally served with roast lamb to cut the meat's richness, so today 'mint sauce' means a vinegar-and-mint sauce served with lamb and other meats.