pho

noun

ˈfə

ˈfō

: a soup made of beef or chicken broth and rice noodles

Did you know?

Pho, which first appeared in print in English in 1935, was borrowed from a Vietnamese word which was spelled phở. English speakers replaced the vowel with "o" but preserved the pronunciation as "fuh," rather than "foh." Another Vietnamese food word that was borrowed into English is nuoc mam, which refers to a type of fish sauce that is fermented in brine. In that case as well, the original Vietnamese word had accent marks that were lost on the journey into English. Nuoc mam was recorded in English just a few years before pho arrived.

Examples of pho in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Vientiane Noodle Shop, 3422 W. National Ave., is a spot for pho, curries and other Laotian cuisine. —

Bridget Fogarty, Journal Sentinel, 17 May 2024 Years later, Nguyen says, bullets interrupted a meal with his family when a gunman chased a man into a Garden Grove pho restaurant, emptying a magazine into his back. —

James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for pho

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pho.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.