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soup kitchen

soup kitchen

33 1.6
A place that gives free hot meals to people who are poor or homeless
  • noun
  • /suːp ˈkɪtʃɪn/
translation icon : comedor social
  • During the winter months, many people rely on the soup kitchen for warm meals and shelter.

Volunteer at a soup kitchen and don't eat the soup.

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Examples

  • A good lesson can be learned from volunteering time at a local soup kitchen or other charity.

    Blog text (10)
  • So, I'll probably stay there and just work the soup kitchen line in the morning.

  • The soup kitchen is around in the parish hall.

  • Perhaps volunteering at a shelter or soup kitchen could put things into perspective.

    Blog text (19)
  • Grab some friends and head down to your local soup kitchen or homeless shelter and serve your neighborhood.

    Blog text (16)
  • Near Lange's studio, a widow named Lois Jordan had set up a soup kitchen.

    Academic text (1995)
  • MARGO: I'm here at town hall, where they're setting up a soup kitchen for the homeless.

  • Several students volunteered in soup kitchens and food pantries to understand the causes of hunger and poverty.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Miriam Scheider, a successful concert promoter but she still took time out to volunteer at our soup kitchens and at the food bank.

  • The volunteers prepared hot meals for those in need at the soup kitchen every Sunday.

Synonyms

food bank
vssoup kitchen
17 1.6

A place that collects food and gives it to people in need

serves prepared hot meals directly to needy people

How Helpful

imaret
  • Archaic
9.9
almshouse
  • Archaic
1 9.3
shelter
344 1.1
soup kitchen
33 1.6
hostel
34 2.1

Surface Forms

soup kitchen singular
soup kitchens plural

Morphology

soup + kitchen

The parts 'soup' and 'kitchen' clearly indicate a place where soup is prepared or served, so a learner will infer it refers to a location related to food. However the conventional sense — specifically a charitable place providing free meals to people in need — includes a social/charity nuance (free distribution, target population) that is not fully predictable from the constituents alone. Because the basic compositional idea is clear but the important charitable aspect may be missed, this is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

The name soup kitchen comes from charity places where volunteers cooked large pots of soup in a kitchen to feed poor people. Because soup was cheap and filling, these places gave 'free meals' to those in need, so today soup kitchen means 'a place that provides free meals'.