"alphabet soup" meaning in English

See alphabet soup in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: alphabet soups [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} alphabet soup (countable and uncountable, plural alphabet soups)
  1. A type of soup that contains noodles in the shape of various alphabetical letters, sometimes also numbers. Tags: countable, uncountable Translations (soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters): aakkoskeitto (Finnish), Buchstabensuppe [feminine] (German), sopa de letrinhas [Brazil, feminine] (Portuguese), sopa de letras [feminine] (Spanish), אַלף־בית־זופּ (alef-beys-zup) [feminine] (Yiddish)
    Sense id: en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-en:soup_with_letter_shaped_noodles Disambiguation of 'soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters': 63 4 3 30
  2. (figuratively) A cryptic overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations. Tags: countable, figuratively, uncountable Translations (overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations): Abkürzungsdschungel [masculine] (German), sopa de letrinhas [feminine] (Portuguese), מיש־⁠מאַש (alt: mish-⁠mash) [masculine] (Yiddish)
    Sense id: en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-en:cryptic_communication Disambiguation of 'overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations': 4 57 9 31
  3. (figuratively, metonymically) A quantity of people or organizations that are referred to by acronyms. Tags: countable, figuratively, metonymically, uncountable
    Sense id: en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-en:people_or_organizations_labeled Categories (other): English metonyms
  4. (figuratively, particle physics) A physical state in which there is a miscellany of different particles, often designated by letters. Tags: countable, figuratively, particle, uncountable Categories (topical): Particle physics, Soups
    Sense id: en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-o-xetZrq Disambiguation of Soups: 22 10 10 57 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Yiddish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 11 11 70 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 8 21 11 60 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 8 11 12 69 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 8 11 11 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 11 15 14 60 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 9 18 11 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 11 16 13 59 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 8 15 11 65 Disambiguation of Terms with Yiddish translations: 11 15 11 63 Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms (acronym-heavy communication): alphabet mafia
Disambiguation of 'acronym-heavy communication': 16 27 28 28

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "alphabet soups",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "alphabet soup (countable and uncountable, plural alphabet soups)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "16 27 28 28",
      "sense": "acronym-heavy communication",
      "word": "alphabet mafia"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Meronym: alfabeto"
        },
        {
          "text": "Parents have been entertaining their children at mealtime with alphabet soup since the nineteenth century.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A type of soup that contains noodles in the shape of various alphabetical letters, sometimes also numbers."
      ],
      "id": "en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-en:soup_with_letter_shaped_noodles",
      "links": [
        [
          "soup",
          "soup"
        ],
        [
          "noodle",
          "noodle"
        ],
        [
          "alphabetical",
          "alphabetical"
        ],
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ],
        [
          "number",
          "number"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:soup with letter-shaped noodles"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "63 4 3 30",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
          "word": "aakkoskeitto"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "63 4 3 30",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Buchstabensuppe"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "63 4 3 30",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
          "tags": [
            "Brazil",
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "sopa de letrinhas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "63 4 3 30",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "sopa de letras"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "63 4 3 30",
          "code": "yi",
          "lang": "Yiddish",
          "roman": "alef-beys-zup",
          "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "אַלף־בית־זופּ"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The various engineering teams' correspondence on circuit board design was an alphabet soup to outsiders.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Amy L. Stone, More than adding a T: transgender inclusion in Michigan gay rights ordinances, 1992-2000:",
          "text": "And particularly in headlines and written materials, gay was used over LGBT. One ambivalent heterosexual ally explained this decision-making: I think there were several people who were sensitive to issues like that about do we use the word lesbian? Do we use the word transgender? And it's not that we didn't use those words, but in general, if you're doing a brochure and you have a headline, you don't include the whole alphabet soup.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A cryptic overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations."
      ],
      "id": "en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-en:cryptic_communication",
      "links": [
        [
          "cryptic",
          "cryptic"
        ],
        [
          "overabundance",
          "overabundance"
        ],
        [
          "acronym",
          "acronym"
        ],
        [
          "abbreviation",
          "abbreviation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A cryptic overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:cryptic communication"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 57 9 31",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Abkürzungsdschungel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 57 9 31",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "sopa de letrinhas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 57 9 31",
          "alt": "mish-⁠mash",
          "code": "yi",
          "lang": "Yiddish",
          "sense": "overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "מיש־⁠מאַש"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English metonyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: alphabet agencies"
        },
        {
          "text": "too many three-letter agencies, constituting an alphabet soup",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A quantity of people or organizations that are referred to by acronyms."
      ],
      "id": "en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-en:people_or_organizations_labeled",
      "links": [
        [
          "quantity",
          "quantity"
        ],
        [
          "people",
          "people"
        ],
        [
          "organization",
          "organization"
        ],
        [
          "acronym",
          "acronym"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively, metonymically) A quantity of people or organizations that are referred to by acronyms."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:people or organizations labeled"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "metonymically",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Particle physics",
          "orig": "en:Particle physics",
          "parents": [
            "Physics",
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 11 11 70",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 21 11 60",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 11 12 69",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 11 11 70",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 15 14 60",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 18 11 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 16 13 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 15 11 65",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 15 11 63",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Yiddish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 10 10 57",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Soups",
          "orig": "en:Soups",
          "parents": [
            "Foods",
            "Eating",
            "Food and drink",
            "Human behaviour",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1978, Patrick Moore, 1978 Yearbook of Astronomy, page 172:",
          "text": "This part of the neutron star has been described as ‘a rich Greek alphabet soup’.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Nee-Pong Chang, “Chirality in the Early Universe”, in Ling Fong Li et al., editors, Looking to the 21st Century: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Frontiers of Physics, →ISBN, page 784:",
          "text": "The early big bang is an alphabet soup of quarks, W bosons, gluons, and other exotic particles and flavors. In the usual scenario, there is no place for the pion. It dissociates in the alphabet soup of the early universe.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Walter M. Wilcox, Quantum Principles and Particles, →ISBN, page 434:",
          "text": "At shorter distances (probed at higher energies), an alphabet-soup of other types of spin 0 (scalar) and spin 1 (vector) mesons are exchanged […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A physical state in which there is a miscellany of different particles, often designated by letters."
      ],
      "id": "en-alphabet_soup-en-noun-o-xetZrq",
      "links": [
        [
          "particle physics",
          "particle physics"
        ],
        [
          "state",
          "state"
        ],
        [
          "miscellany",
          "miscellany"
        ],
        [
          "particle",
          "particle"
        ],
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively, particle physics) A physical state in which there is a miscellany of different particles, often designated by letters."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "particle",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "physics"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "alphabet soup"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Yiddish translations",
    "en:Soups"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "alphabet soups",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "alphabet soup (countable and uncountable, plural alphabet soups)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "sense": "acronym-heavy communication",
      "word": "alphabet mafia"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Meronym: alfabeto"
        },
        {
          "text": "Parents have been entertaining their children at mealtime with alphabet soup since the nineteenth century.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A type of soup that contains noodles in the shape of various alphabetical letters, sometimes also numbers."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "soup",
          "soup"
        ],
        [
          "noodle",
          "noodle"
        ],
        [
          "alphabetical",
          "alphabetical"
        ],
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ],
        [
          "number",
          "number"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:soup with letter-shaped noodles"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The various engineering teams' correspondence on circuit board design was an alphabet soup to outsiders.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Amy L. Stone, More than adding a T: transgender inclusion in Michigan gay rights ordinances, 1992-2000:",
          "text": "And particularly in headlines and written materials, gay was used over LGBT. One ambivalent heterosexual ally explained this decision-making: I think there were several people who were sensitive to issues like that about do we use the word lesbian? Do we use the word transgender? And it's not that we didn't use those words, but in general, if you're doing a brochure and you have a headline, you don't include the whole alphabet soup.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A cryptic overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "cryptic",
          "cryptic"
        ],
        [
          "overabundance",
          "overabundance"
        ],
        [
          "acronym",
          "acronym"
        ],
        [
          "abbreviation",
          "abbreviation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A cryptic overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:cryptic communication"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English metonyms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: alphabet agencies"
        },
        {
          "text": "too many three-letter agencies, constituting an alphabet soup",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A quantity of people or organizations that are referred to by acronyms."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "quantity",
          "quantity"
        ],
        [
          "people",
          "people"
        ],
        [
          "organization",
          "organization"
        ],
        [
          "acronym",
          "acronym"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively, metonymically) A quantity of people or organizations that are referred to by acronyms."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:people or organizations labeled"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "metonymically",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Particle physics"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1978, Patrick Moore, 1978 Yearbook of Astronomy, page 172:",
          "text": "This part of the neutron star has been described as ‘a rich Greek alphabet soup’.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997, Nee-Pong Chang, “Chirality in the Early Universe”, in Ling Fong Li et al., editors, Looking to the 21st Century: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Frontiers of Physics, →ISBN, page 784:",
          "text": "The early big bang is an alphabet soup of quarks, W bosons, gluons, and other exotic particles and flavors. In the usual scenario, there is no place for the pion. It dissociates in the alphabet soup of the early universe.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Walter M. Wilcox, Quantum Principles and Particles, →ISBN, page 434:",
          "text": "At shorter distances (probed at higher energies), an alphabet-soup of other types of spin 0 (scalar) and spin 1 (vector) mesons are exchanged […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A physical state in which there is a miscellany of different particles, often designated by letters."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "particle physics",
          "particle physics"
        ],
        [
          "state",
          "state"
        ],
        [
          "miscellany",
          "miscellany"
        ],
        [
          "particle",
          "particle"
        ],
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively, particle physics) A physical state in which there is a miscellany of different particles, often designated by letters."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "particle",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "physics"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
      "word": "aakkoskeitto"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Buchstabensuppe"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
      "tags": [
        "Brazil",
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "sopa de letrinhas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "sopa de letras"
    },
    {
      "code": "yi",
      "lang": "Yiddish",
      "roman": "alef-beys-zup",
      "sense": "soup that contains noodles in the shape of alphabetical letters",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "אַלף־בית־זופּ"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Abkürzungsdschungel"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "sopa de letrinhas"
    },
    {
      "alt": "mish-⁠mash",
      "code": "yi",
      "lang": "Yiddish",
      "sense": "overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "מיש־⁠מאַש"
    }
  ],
  "word": "alphabet soup"
}

Download raw JSONL data for alphabet soup meaning in English (6.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.