mayonnaise

/ˈmeɪ.ə.neɪz/

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French mayonnaise, possibly named after the city of Maó (Mahón in Spanish), Minorca, whence the recipe was brought back to France. Compare Spanish mahonesa. Alternative suggested origins include the city of Bayonne (bayonnaise); the Duke of Mayenne and the words manier (“to handle”) in French or moyeu (“eye yolk”) in Old French.

noun

A dressing made from vegetable oil, raw egg yolks, vinegar or lemon juice, and seasoning, used on salads, with french fries, in sandwiches etc.“There are 250 foods, including mayonnaise, cheese and cocoa, that don't list ingredients at all.”
Any cold dish with that dressing as an ingredient.“We served a lobster mayonnaise as a starter.”
Any cream, for example for moisturizing the face or conditioning the hair, for which the base is egg yolks and oil.“hair mayonnaise”
Exaggeration.“Rancey and our coach, Damien Hardwick, still both joke that "Dimma" tried to off-load him for a sixpack of beers and a bucket of chips in his first few years, but I think they both put some mayonnaise on the story these days.”
In full Mayonnaise sauce or sauce Mayonnaise: alternative letter-case form of mayonnaise.“The reader who may have a prejudice against the unboiled eggs which enter into the composition of the Mayonnaise, will find that the most fastidious taste would not detect their being raw, if the sauce be well made; […] Abroad, boiled asparagus is very frequently served cold, and eaten with oil and vinegar, or a sauce Mayonnaise.”

verb

To cover or season with mayonnaise.“Jones himself presided in the kitchen, mincing truffles, mayonnaising lobster, booting waiters out the door with tray after tray of steaming savories and teeth-numbing sweets, […]”