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# sour

adjective (sour, sourer, sourest); verb (sour, sours, soured, souring)

«sour» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Sour food has a sharp taste, like a lemon or vinegar. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#m1)
2. Milk turns sour when it goes bad. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#m2)
3. A sour person or mood is bad-tempered and unfriendly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#m3)
4. To sour means to become worse or less friendly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#m4)

### In the lessons

In science lessons sour is one of the basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami) and is caused by acids. In stories a sour face shows someone is cross. Phrases: «go sour», «turn sour», «sour cream», «sweet and sour», «sour grapes».

### Examples

- Lemons taste very sour. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x1)
- The milk has gone sour, so don't drink it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x2)
- Sour sweets make my mouth tingle. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x3)
- She gave me a sour look. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x4)
- The game turned sour when they started cheating. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x5)
- We had sweet and sour chicken for dinner. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x6)
- Saying the prize was boring was just sour grapes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x7)
- He next flew to the anemones; these were rather sour to his taste. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/#x8)

### Note

Opposite of sweet. «Sour grapes» = pretending you did not want something you could not get. Sour milk smells bad; do not drink it. Sour taste comes from acids, like citric acid in lemons. Rhymes with «power».

## In Jewish tradition

Sour grapes were a proverb in which the fathers eat sour grapes and the children's teeth feel it.

**Interpretation.** Jeremiah and Ezekiel reject the proverb and teach that each person is responsible for his own wrongdoing. Tradition sees this as a basic teaching of personal responsibility.

### Examples

- In those days they shall say no more: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' (Prophets JER.31.29, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sour/#x1)
- But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. (Prophets JER.31.30, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sour/#x2)
- 'What mean ye, that ye use this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? (Prophets EZK.18.2, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sour/#x3)

### Note

Opposite of sweet. «Sour grapes» = pretending you did not want something you could not get. Sour milk smells bad; do not drink it. Sour taste comes from acids, like citric acid in lemons. Rhymes with «power».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «sour» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sour/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«sour» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/sour.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «sour» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sour/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«sour» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/sour.html) on Mova free.