hors d'oeuvre

/ɔr dərv/

/ɔ dəv/

Other forms: hors d'oeuvres

An hors d’oeuvre is an appetizer. At a fancy party, waiters might walk around with trays of bite-sized hors d’oeuvres.

Hors d’eourves are served in small portions, like most appetizers. This term originally meant something out of the ordinary before it came to mean something separate from the main course of a meal. Other types of food that are similar to hors d’eourves in size are the Chinese dim sum and Spanish tapas.

Definitions of hors d'oeuvre

1. noun

   a dish served as an appetizer before the main meal
   types:

   stuffed mushroom

   mushrooms stuffed with any of numerous mixtures of e.g. meats or nuts or seafood or spinach

   rollmops

   a pickled herring filet that has been rolled or wrapped around a pickle

   pigs in blankets

   small frankfurters wrapped in biscuit dough and baked

   type of:

   appetiser, appetizer, starter

   food or drink to stimulate the appetite (usually served before a meal or as the first course)