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Glite Dictionary
chili vinegar

chili vinegar

2.8
A sour liquid made with chili peppers to make food spicy
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃɪli ˈvɪnɪɡər/
  • US
translation icon : vinagre de chile
  • She added a splash of chili vinegar to the noodles for extra heat.

Examples

  • The restaurant served homemade chili vinegar as a condiment with the dumplings.

  • Bottles of chili vinegar lined the shelves in the Asian market.

  • I love adding chili vinegar to my salads.

  • Have you tried chili vinegar on your tacos?

  • I love using chili vinegar in my salad dressings for an extra kick.

  • She added chili vinegar to the stir-fry, enhancing the dish with a spicy flavor.

  • For a zesty dip, mix yogurt with chili vinegar and some chopped herbs.

Synonyms

Sriracha
vschili vinegar
7 4.8

A spicy chili sauce from Thailand that people put on food to add heat

is mainly vinegar with chili rather than a thick sweet garlic-and-chili sauce
Tabasco sauce
vschili vinegar
1 2.8

A hot sauce that uses aged red peppers and vinegar

is mainly vinegar with chili flavor rather than an aged pepper-based sauce
Tabasco
vschili vinegar
1 3.9

A very spicy sauce made from aged red peppers

is plain vinegar flavored with chili rather than a branded tangy pepper sauce

How Spicy

chili powder
  • US
8 1.7
chili vinegar
  • US
2.8
Sriracha
7 4.8
hot sauce
34 1.0
salsa
94 1.2
ketchup
123 1.0

Surface Forms

chili vinegar singular
chili vinegars plural
chilli vinegars plural
chilli vinegar singular

Morphology

chili + vinegar

The meaning 'vinegar flavored with chili peppers' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'chili' (pepper that adds heat) with 'vinegar' (sour liquid); this noun-noun modifier pattern is productive and lexicalized in many languages. Because the compound describes a straightforward food flavoring, a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Chili vinegar comes from a simple picture: red chili peppers are soaked in sharp vinegar, and the liquid takes their heat and color. So, it means 'vinegar flavored with chili' used to give food a hot, spicy taste.