gravy
n. C / Un. a warm sauce made from the juices that come out of meat while it is cooking. It is usually served over meat, potatoes, or vegetables.
n. a sauce made from the thickened juices of cooked meat, often combined with stock and seasonings. In informal contexts, it can also refer to money or benefits obtained easily or unexpectedly.
She poured hot gravy over the roast beef and mashed potatoes.
The chef whisked a little flour into the pan drippings to make a smooth, savory gravy for the Sunday dinner.
While the base salary was already generous, the performance bonuses were pure gravy, allowing the young consultant to pay off his student loans much faster than anticipated.
From Middle English gravey, greavie, gravy; probably from greaves, graves (“the sediment of melted tallow”), or from Old French grave, a claimed misspelling of grané (“stew, spice”), from grain (“spice”). Sense of "pasta sauce" apparently seems to be from Italian dialect, especially Calabrian, differentiating tomato puree (salsa (“sauce”)) from cooked tomato sauce (sugo).
Uncountable when referring to the substance in general; countable when referring to specific types or servings.