verjuice

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a sharply acidic juice pressed from unripe grapes, crab apples, or other sour fruit and used in cooking

   The cook added verjuice to the sauce for a gentler acidity than vinegar.

2. 2
   verb

   rare: to make sour or bitter, literally or figuratively

   A spiteful aside verjuiced what had begun as a gracious tribute.

From Middle English verjous and Old French vert jus, literally 'green juice' (vert 'green' + jus 'juice'). The name refers to juice pressed from unripe fruit; the rare verb extends its sourness metaphorically.

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