chowder

/ˈtʃaʊdər/

/ˈtʃaʊdə/

Other forms: chowders

Chowder is a thick, chunky soup that often contains fish or shellfish. New England is well known for its creamy, rich version of clam chowder.

Chowder is somewhere between a soup and a stew — it's full of chunks of potato and onions, thick with bacon, fish, or vegetables, and sometimes eaten with crackers on the side or crumbled on top. Chowder is one of many words that distinctly originated in America, and it was included in the first edition of Noah Webster's dictionary of American English. Chowder comes from the pot in which it's cooked, chaudière, French for "a pot."

Definitions of chowder

1. noun

   a thick soup or stew usually containing seafood in a base of cream or tomatoes
   types:

   corn chowder

   chowder containing corn

   clam chowder

   chowder containing clams

   fish chowder

   chowder containing fish

   Manhattan clam chowder

   a chowder made with clams and tomatoes and other vegetables and seasonings

   New England clam chowder

   a thick chowder made with clams and potatoes and onions and salt pork and milk

   type of:

   soup

   liquid food especially of meat or fish or vegetable stock often containing pieces of solid food