- hors d'oeu|vre
- hors d'oeu|vre «R DURV; Frehnch R DER vruh», plural d'oeu|vres «DURVZ».1. a relish, light food, or dainty sandwich, served as an appetizer before the regular courses of a meal. Olives, celery, cheese, nuts, and anchovies are used as hors d'oeuvres.2. outside the major concern; apart from the main undertaking: »
Adolpho…was an important boutiquier when other custom milliners ventured no farther hors d'oeuvre than an occasional scarf or handbag (New Yorker).
3. something beyond the main concern; something peripheral: »Restraints on free speech are usually hors d'oeuvres for the Supreme Court, but when Congress outlawed draft card burning to squelch antiwar dissent, the Justices backed the law, 7 to 1 (New York Times). Dictionaries…of space and medical terms, and a number of other little compendia that look substantial in a table of contents but are essentially mere hors d'oeuvres (Saturday Review).
Usage In French hors d'oeuvre is usually hyphenated and does not take a plural -s.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
