mayo
n. uncountablen. a thick, white sauce made from oil, egg yolks, and vinegar. You usually put it on sandwiches or use it to dip fries.
n. a thick, creamy dressing consisting of egg yolks beaten with oil and vinegar or lemon juice. An informal clipping of 'mayonnaise'.
I always put extra mayo on my turkey sandwich.
The waiter brought a small dish of garlic mayo to go with the hot chips we ordered.
While traditional recipes require whisking the oil by hand, most modern kitchens use a blender to emulsify the mayo into a stable, velvety consistency.
Derived from Irish Maigh Eo * (surname): Possibly instead derived from Old French, “Maiheu” from Hebrew, “Matthew”
Named after the Mayo River, whose name in Mayo means "people of the riverbank."
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Uncountable in its general sense; can be countable when referring to specific varieties or servings.
Last updated May 2, 2026