1. A sauce — usually cold — used to coat or top salads and some cold vegetable, fish and meat dishes. 2. A mixture used to stuff poultry, fish, meat and some vegetables. It can be cooked separately or in the food in which it is stuffed. Dressings (also called stuffings) are usually well seasoned and based on bread crumbs or cubes — though rice, potatoes and other foods are also used.