Meaning & use
sours
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“sours” is a form of “sour”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Cocktails made from a spirit, lemon or lime juice and sugar, such as the whiskey sour.
Grammar: Plural of sour: two sours.
Patterns
- whiskey sours
- order sours
The bar is famous for its whiskey sours.
We ordered two amaretto sours and some olives.
Sours are usually shaken with ice before serving.
nounpluralinformal
Sweets or candies coated in a sharp, tangy powder or made with a very acidic flavor.
Grammar: Plural; often used in shops and everyday talk about sweets.
Patterns
- a bag of sours
He bought a bag of sours at the cinema.
Kids love sours because the first taste makes them squint.
Those fizzy sours are too sharp for me.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Third person singular of sour: becomes or makes something sour or bitter, in taste or in mood.
Grammar: Used with a singular subject: milk sours; it sours the mood.
Patterns
- something sours
- something sours someone's mood
Milk sours quickly in hot weather.
Her tone sours whenever he mentions money.
A single argument sours the whole evening.
Word forms
| base form | sour |
|---|---|
| past tense | soured |
| -ing form | souring |
Common combinations
- whiskey sours
- Two whiskey sours, please.
- sour candy sours
- The shop sells all kinds of fizzy sours.
- sours on someone
- The public sours on leaders who break promises.
- relationship sours
- A friendship sours when trust is lost.
- milk sours
- Milk sours within hours if left out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spoils
- Spoils is used for food that goes bad, while sours is specific to turning acid or unpleasant.
- turns
- Turns is a broader, more casual verb for milk or moods changing for the worse.
- embitters
- Embitters is stronger and used mostly for people's feelings, not food.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sours or sores?
sours vs sores
Sores are painful spots on the skin; sours are drinks, candies or the verb for turning sour.
Practice
In the sentence 'Milk sours quickly in the sun', sours is ___.
Choose one answer.
After the singular subject milk, sours is a verb meaning goes sour. The noun senses would need a plural subject or object, not this structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sours”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.