Definition Definition

sour - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'sour' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Sour [ n.]
- A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.
2 . Sour [ superl.]
- Having an acid or sharp, biting taste, like vinegar, and the juices of most unripe fruits; acid; tart.
- Changed, as by keeping, so as to be acid, rancid, or musty, turned.
- Disagreeable; unpleasant; hence; cross; crabbed; peevish; morose; as, a man of a sour temper; a sour reply.
- Afflictive; painful.
- Cold and unproductive; as, sour land; a sour marsh.
3 . Sour [ v. i.]
- To become sour; to turn from sweet to sour; as, milk soon sours in hot weather; a kind temper sometimes sours in adversity.
4 . Sour [ v. t.]
- To cause to become sour; to cause to turn from sweet to sour; as, exposure to the air sours many substances.
- To make cold and unproductive, as soil.
- To make unhappy, uneasy, or less agreeable.
- To cause or permit to become harsh or unkindly.
- To macerate, and render fit for plaster or mortar; as, to sour lime for business purposes.

Meaning of 'sour' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . sour [ v]
Meaning (1):
- go sour or spoil
Example in sentence:
  • The cream has turned--we have to throw it out;
  • The milk has soured;
  • The wine worked
2 . sour [ s]
Meaning (2):
- showing a brooding ill humor
Example in sentence:
  • a dark scowl;
  • a glum, hopeless shrug;
  • a morose and unsociable manner;
  • a saturnine, almost misanthropic young genius;
  • a sour temper;
  • a sullen crowd;
  • he sat in moody silence;
  • the proverbially dour New England Puritan
Meaning (3):
- inaccurate in pitch
Example in sentence:
  • a false (or sour) note;
  • her singing was off key
Meaning (4):
- in an unpalatable state
Example in sentence:
  • sour milk