a thick soup made variously, but usually containing onions, potatoes, and salt pork, sometimes corn, tomatoes, or other vegetables, and often, specif., clams or fish and milk
See chowder in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(chouˈdər)
noun
A thick soup containing fish or shellfish, especially clams, and vegetables, such as potatoes and onions, in a milk or tomato base.
A soup similar to this seafood dish: corn chowder.