sop
Soak up gravy or pot likker with a biscuit.
Also called sop up, soppers.
Updated September 24, 2026
sop pronunciation
/SAHP/
Meaning
At a country table, sop means dragging bread through the good stuff left on the plate so none of it goes to waste. Biscuits, cornbread, and spoon bread all get the job. As a noun, sop can mean that gravy itself, or the hunk of bread you use for the job. Same root shows up in "sopping wet" when you are soaked clean through.
How folks use it
- “Don't waste that redeye gravy — sop it up with your biscuit.”
- “We had sausage, eggs, and a plate of sop for breakfast.”
Origin and etymology
From Old English sopp, bread soaked in liquid. Scots speech brought a gravy sense that stuck in Appalachia. Mountain cooks kept the verb alive around biscuits, spoon-bread "soppers," and skillet gravy. It is kitchen thrift talk as much as dictionary English.
Frequently asked questions
Is sop the gravy or the biscuit?
It can be either. The verb is the soaking. The noun may mean the gravy, or the bread you drag through it.