wine

American  

[wahyn] / waɪn /

noun

wines plural

1. the fermented juice of grapes, made in many varieties, such as red, white, sweet, dry, still, and sparkling, for use as a beverage, in cooking, in religious rites, etc., and usually having an alcoholic content of 14 percent or less.

2. a particular variety of such fermented grape juice.

   port and sherry wines.

3. the juice, fermented or unfermented, of various other fruits or plants, used as a beverage, sauce, etc..

   gooseberry wine; currant wine.

4. a dark reddish color, as of red wines.

5. Pharmacology. vinum.

6. something that invigorates, cheers, or intoxicates like wine.

7. British.

   1. a social gathering at which wine is the major beverage.

   2. a party, especially one held by university students, for drinking wine.

8. Obsolete. intoxication due to the drinking of wine.

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adjective

1. dark red in color.

verb (used with object)

wined, wining

1. to supply with wine.

   He wined his cellar with rare vintages.

verb (used without object)

wined, wining

1. to drink wine.

idioms

1. new wine in old bottles, something new placed in or superimposed on an old or existing form, system, etc. Matthew 9:17.

2. wine and dine, to entertain lavishly.

   They wined and dined us in order to get us to sign the new contract.

wine British  

/ waɪn /

noun

1. 1. an alcoholic drink produced by the fermenting of grapes with water and sugar

   2. an alcoholic drink produced in this way from other fruits, flowers, etc

      elderberry wine

2. 1. a dark red colour, sometimes with a purplish tinge

   2. ( as adjective )

      wine-coloured

3. anything resembling wine in its intoxicating or invigorating effect

4. obsolete pharmacol fermented grape juice containing medicaments

5. a dialect word for water

6. something new added to or imposed upon an old or established order

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verb

1. (intr) to drink wine

2. to entertain or be entertained with wine and fine food

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wineless
  adjective
• winish
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of wine

First recorded before 900; Middle English (noun), Old English wīn (cognate with Dutch wijn, German Wein, Old Norse vīn, Gothic wein ), ultimately derived from Latin vīnum (cognate with Greek oînos )

Example Sentences

Industry groups -- including the National Restaurant Association and Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America -- are pressuring Congress to change the law once again.

From Barron's • Jul. 2, 2026

In 2025, prices for cauliflower “fluctuated by roughly 230%, the largest shift of any ingredient tracked,” Food & Wine reported, citing data from MarginEdge, a restaurant management software company.

From Salon • May 27, 2026

Wine spilled and serving trays clattered to the ground as people screamed and sobbed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026

Mark Williams famously took sweets from someone in the front row during the 2018 final and, fuelled by Minstrels and Wine Gums, went on to defeat Higgins to win his third world title.

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026

He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

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