Meaning & use
coarse salt
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
Salt with large, rough grains, used especially for finishing dishes or grinding in a mill.
Grammar: No plural; use 'some coarse salt' or 'a pinch of coarse salt'.
Patterns
- a pinch of coarse salt
- sprinkle coarse salt on something
Sprinkle coarse salt over the roasted potatoes before serving.
The recipe calls for coarse salt, but you can use fine salt if that's all you have.
She bought a box of coarse salt to fill her new salt grinder.
Common combinations
- coarse salt and pepper
- Season the steak with coarse salt and pepper.
- a pinch of coarse salt
- Add a pinch of coarse salt to the water.
- sprinkle coarse salt
- Sprinkle coarse salt on the focaccia dough.
- coarse salt crystals
- The pretzel is topped with coarse salt crystals.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kosher salt
- A type of coarse salt with large flakes, often used in American cooking; not all coarse salt is kosher salt.
- sea salt
- Salt made from evaporated seawater; it can be coarse or fine, so it is not a direct synonym.
- rock salt
- Very large, unrefined salt crystals used for ice cream makers or de-icing; coarser and less edible than coarse salt.
Opposites
Commonly confused: coarse salt or course?
coarse salt vs course
'Coarse' means rough or large-grained; 'course' means a class or direction. They sound the same but are different words.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'coarse salt' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Coarse salt' is a type of salt with large grains, so 'finished the dish with coarse salt' fits. The other options confuse 'coarse' with 'course' (a class or path) or use it as a verb, which is not correct here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “coarse salt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.