Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Chinese-American dish consisting of small pieces of meat or chicken cooked with bean sprouts and other vegetables and served with rice.
  • noun Informal A miscellany.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A mixed dish served in Chinese restaurants in New York and elsewhere, as a Chinese dish (but apparently not known in China), consisting of some kind of meat (chicken, pork. beef), with vegetables (celery, onions, green bean sprouts, mushrooms, green peppers, etc.), cut small, seasoned, and cooked.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • United States A mélange served in Chinese restaurants to be eaten with rice, noodles, etc. It consists typically of bean sprouts, onions, mushrooms, etc., and sliced meats, fried and flavored with sesame oil.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US A stir-fried vegetable dish, served with pieces of beef or pork in a semi-thick sauce, and often soy sauce.
  • noun Steamed bean sprouts served in a semi-thick sauce, and mixed with a choice of meat and/or vegetables.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun meat or fish stir-fried with vegetables (e.g., celery, onions, peppers or bean sprouts) seasoned with ginger and garlic and soy sauce; served with rice; created in the United States and frequently served in Chinese restaurants there

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Cantonese zaap6 seoi3, miscellaneous bits (equivalent to Mandarin zásuì) : Cantonese zaap6, mixed (from Middle Chinese tsɦap) + Cantonese seoi3, mixed (from Middle Chinese suaj`, pieces, to break up).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Cantonese 雜碎 (zaap6 seoi3, "mixed and broken").

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