alphabet soup

noun5

1. •
   A type of soup that contains noodles in the shape of various alphabetical letters, sometimes also numbers.

   • Parents have been entertaining their children at mealtime with alphabet soup since the nineteenth century.
2. •
   (figurative) A cryptic overabundance of acronyms and abbreviations.

   • The various engineering teams' correspondence on circuit board design was an alphabet soup to outsiders.
3. •
   (figurative) A quantity of people or organizations that are referred to by acronyms.
4. •
   (figurative) A physical state in which there is a miscellany of different particles, often designated by letters.

   • This part of the neutron star has been described as ‘a rich Greek alphabet soup’. — 1978
5. •
   (slang) The series of preliminary races (denoted by letters) through which drivers must advance to the main event.