1 alphabet soup | Definition of alphabet soup

alphabet soup

noun

Definition of alphabet soup

: a hodgepodge especially of initials (as of the names of organizations)

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Examples of alphabet soup in a Sentence

a bowl of alphabet soup the alphabet soup of designer drugs that were available to patrons of the once-notorious disco

Recent Examples on the Web

We snorkel through alphabet soup, collecting spoons and toothbrushes and bottle caps. Rowan Jacobsen, Outside Online, "An Ocean Plastics Field Trip for Corporate Executives," 8 Aug. 2019 The search for dark matter involves a dizzying array of experiments, a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms, all using different techniques and technologies. Jennifer Ouellette, Quanta Magazine, "In the Hunt for Dark Matter, Promises to Keep?," 18 July 2013 The industry faces an alphabet soup of regulators—from the SEC to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to banking regulators who police the payment systems and enforce anti-money-laundering laws. Dave Michaels, WSJ, "Silicon Valley Is Into Bitcoin. It Wants to Keep Washington Out.," 19 Apr. 2018 Washington could hardly function without the alphabet soup helping government officials, lobbyists and policy wonks navigate the bureaucracy. Ryan Tracy, WSJ, "Can You Say EGRRCPA? Tongue-Twister Banking Law Confuses Washington," 1 Sep. 2018 But the campaign against ICE may be conflating an alphabet soup of government agencies and their various roles in immigration enforcement. Linda Qiu, New York Times, "What Is ICE and Why Do Critics Want to Abolish It?," 3 July 2018 The alphabet soup of agencies touches every aspect of every American's life. Tory Newmyer, Washington Post, "The Finance 202: CFPB further under fire with Kavanaugh pick for Supreme Court," 11 July 2018 The results could be loaded into a database that searches for long similarities in the alphabet soup. John Moore, National Geographic, "Could DNA Testing Reunite Immigrant Families? Get the Facts.," 25 June 2018 Virtually every penny spent in those years went to an alphabet soup of programs like FERA, CWA, PWA, CCC, and the WPA. Peter-christian Aigner, The New Republic, "The Long, Tortured History of the Job Guarantee," 11 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'alphabet soup.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of alphabet soup

1884, in the meaning defined above

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More Definitions for alphabet soup

alphabet soup

noun

English Language Learners Definition of alphabet soup

: a type of soup for children with small noodles that are shaped like letters of the alphabet

More from Merriam-Webster on alphabet soup

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with alphabet soup

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for alphabet soup