ketchup

IPA/ˈketʃʌp/
KK[kˈɛtʃəp]IPA/ˈketʃəp/

ketchup — noun

1. a smooth, thick, dark red sauce prepared from tomatoes together with vinegar and

1.nounA2
Definition

a smooth, thick, dark red sauce prepared from tomatoes together with vinegar and spices, often poured over foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs to give a sweet and sour taste

Example

Liam poured some ketchup onto his plate beside the golden fries.

collocation: pour ketchup onto [food]

Rosa asked her brother to pass the ketchup for her hamburger.

collocation: pass the ketchup

Common collocations
  • a bottle of ketchup
  • a squeeze of ketchup
  • pour ketchup on
  • pass the ketchup
  • dip in ketchup
  • ketchup bottle
Synonyms
  • tomato sauce

    tomato sauce can refer to cooked tomato mixtures used in pasta dishes, while ketchup is specifically a cold condiment for foods like burgers and fries

  • catsup

    an older, less common spelling of ketchup, still used on some American product labels

Usage Note

Ketchup is an uncountable noun, so it does not have a plural form. Use 'some ketchup' or 'a bottle / a squeeze of ketchup' rather than 'a ketchup'.

Common Mistakes

Please give me a ketchup.
Please give me some ketchup.
ketchup is uncountable and cannot be used with 'a' alone.
I eat ketchup with my fries.
I put ketchup on my fries.
ketchup is a condiment that you add to food, not a dish you eat on its own.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Ketchup, tomato sauce, and catsup are all tomato-based condiments, but they differ in use and texture. Ketchup is always served cold and has a smooth, thick consistency with a sweet-and-sour vinegar taste; it is typically squeezed or poured onto burgers, hot dogs, and fries. Tomato sauce is a broader term — it can mean ketchup in British English, but in cooking contexts it refers to a cooked, often chunky sauce for pasta or pizza. Catsup is simply an older spelling of ketchup that appears on a few American brands but is otherwise identical. Relish is chunkier and made from chopped vegetables or fruit rather than puréed tomatoes. Condiment is the general category word for any seasoning added to food at the table (ketchup, mustard, relish, hot sauce, etc.). For example, you might ask for 'ketchup and mustard' for a hot dog, but you would order 'pasta with tomato sauce', not 'pasta with ketchup'.

tomato saucecatsup ↗relish ↗condiment ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • pour ketchup on
  • dip in ketchup
  • a bottle of ketchup
  • a squeeze of ketchup

Prepositions

Etymology

ChineseMalayEnglish

The word ketchup comes from the Chinese word kê-tsiap (a pickled fish sauce), which was brought to Southeast Asia by traders and later reached England. Early English versions used mushrooms, walnuts, or oysters instead of fish. The modern tomato-based recipe became popular in the United States in the 1800s, and the spelling 'ketchup' became the standard form.