E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Sauce
means “salted food,” for giving a relish to meat, as pickled roots, herbs, and so on. (Latin, salsus.)
1
The sauce was better than the fisk. The accessories were better than the main part. This may be said of a book in which the plates and getting up are better than the matter it contains.
2
To serve the same sauce. To retaliate; to give as good as you take; to serve in the same manner.
3
“After him another came unto her, and served her with the same sauce; then a third …”—The Man in the Moon, etc. (1609).
