drink
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to take water or other liquid into the mouth and swallow it; imbibe.
-
to imbibe alcoholic drinks, especially habitually or to excess; tipple: They won't find jobs until they stop drinking.
He never drinks.
They won't find jobs until they stop drinking.
- Synonyms:
- tope
-
to show one's respect, affection, or hopes with regard to a person, thing, or event by ceremoniously taking a swallow of wine or some other drink (often followed byto ).
They drank to his victory.
-
to be savored or enjoyed by drinking.
a wine that will drink deliciously for many years.
verb (used with object)
-
to take (a liquid) into the mouth and swallow.
- Synonyms:
- quaff
-
to take in (a liquid) in any manner; absorb.
-
to take in through the senses, especially with eagerness and pleasure (often followed byin ).
He drank in the beauty of the scene.
-
to swallow the contents of (a cup, glass, etc.).
-
to propose or participate in a toast to (a person, thing, or event).
to drink one's health.
- Synonyms:
- toast
noun
-
any liquid that is swallowed to quench thirst, for nourishment, etc.; beverage.
-
excessive indulgence in alcohol.
Drink was his downfall.
-
a swallow or draft of liquid; potion.
She took a drink of water before she spoke.
-
Informal. Usually the drink a large body of water, as a lake, ocean, river, etc..
His teammates threw him in the drink.
verb
-
to swallow (a liquid); imbibe
-
(tr) to take in or soak up (liquid); absorb
this plant drinks a lot of water
-
to pay close attention (to); be fascinated (by)
he drank in the speaker's every word
-
(tr) to bring (oneself into a certain condition) by consuming alcohol
-
to dispose of or ruin by excessive expenditure on alcohol
he drank away his fortune
-
(intr) to consume alcohol, esp to excess
-
to drink (a toast) in celebration, honour, or hope (of)
-
to be able to drink more intoxicating beverage than someone
-
to salute or celebrate with a toast
-
informal to drink alone
noun
-
liquid suitable for drinking; any beverage
-
alcohol or its habitual or excessive consumption
-
a portion of liquid for drinking; draught
-
informal the sea
Usage
As with many verbs of the pattern sing, sang, sung and ring, rang, rung, there is some confusion about the forms for the past tense and past participle of drink. The historical reason for this confusion is that originally verbs of this class in Old English had a past-tense singular form in a but a past-tense plural form in u. Generally the form in a has leveled out to become the standard past-tense form: We drank our coffee. However, the past-tense form in u, though considered nonstandard, occurs often in speech: We drunk our coffee. The standard and most frequent form of the past participle of drink in both speech and writing is drunk : Who has drunk all the milk? However, perhaps because of the association of drunk with intoxication, drank is widely used as a past participle in speech by educated persons and must be considered an alternate standard form: The tourists had drank their fill of the scenery.
Commonly Confused
See drunk ( def. ).
Synonym Usage
Drink, imbibe, sip refer to swallowing liquids. Drink is the general word: to drink coffee. Imbibe is formal in reference to actual drinking; it is used more often in the sense to absorb: to imbibe culture. Sip implies drinking little by little: to sip a cup of broth.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
drinksimple
-
drinkssimple
-
have drankperfect
-
have drunkperfect
-
has drankperfect
-
has drunkperfect
-
am drinkingprogressive
-
are drinkingprogressive
-
is drinkingprogressive
-
have been drinkingperfect progressive
-
has been drinkingperfect progressive
Past
-
dranksimple
-
drunksimple
-
had drankperfect
-
had drunkperfect
-
was drinkingprogressive
-
were drinkingprogressive
-
had been drinkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of drink
First recorded before 900; Middle English drinken, Old English drincan; cognate with Dutch drinken, German trinken, Gothic drinkan, Old Norse drekka
Explanation
To drink is to sip, slurp, or gulp a liquid. On extremely hot days, it's important to drink plenty of water. When you ingest any liquid, you drink it, although the verb drink is very often used to refer specifically to the sipping and swallowing of alcoholic beverages. If a bartender asks, "Do you drink?" she probably means "Do you drink alcohol?" A drink, likewise, can mean any beverage — tea, water, or lemonade — or it can mean an alcoholic one. The Old English root, drincan means both "to drink" and "to engulf."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Many people can’t get through it. They can’t swallow well enough. They can’t talk well enough. They can’t hold the glass or mix the drink on their own.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Add a cold, slushy coffee drink and suddenly breakfast at home begins to feel like brunch.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
Half-time at a football game is normally a chance to grab a drink or snack, make a mad dash for the toilets or vent with friends about some questionable refereeing or defending.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
In France the government has pestered the public to wet their skin, drink cold soup and block windows with cardboard to beat the heat—anything to avoid resorting to AC.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
I stormed out then, went to the barn, and led Marlene down to the stream for a drink.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
The American Heart Association supports science-based policies designed to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
According to one of the 7-year-old friends in “A Sad and Beautiful World,” the process goes like this: “Mom drinks wine, he gives her a nice massage, and that’s how it’s done!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Sodas and cold drinks prices increased only slightly, while coffee and hot drinks saw a median jump of about 13%, according to Theme Parks IQ.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
And Bott urged the government to go further in supporting the industry, cutting the duty on draft beer to target drinks sold in pubs.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
If they’ve figured out ways to control our emotions, I tell myself it’s better to stay petrified and alert than accept any more of their drinks.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
The Scots drank every drop of beer in Boston.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
But while the Scots drank Boston dry and have won the heart of the city and its people, experts say the long-term economic benefits are minimal.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
She said of tertulias, the literary debates that took over an evening in a home or tavern, “they certainly ate, but above all, they drank and debated passionately.”
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
Participants reported everything they ate and drank over three-day periods every six months.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026
My mouth was hot and woolly, so I drank from the horse’s trough again.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
In an egg-and-spoon race, no one gets lonely or drunk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
At the beginning of the study, participants completed detailed food questionnaires describing what they had eaten and drunk during the previous year.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
Haddad, in his 60s, said he and his daughter had drunk six litres of water between them in a single day.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
That is a sign of a healthy market, not one drunk on euphoria.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
But they’d drunk them in the courtyard outside at a fog-wrapped wrought-iron table, the camera on the tabletop between them.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
If you enjoyed Justice Neal Gorsuch’s opinion detailing the Founding Fathers’ drinking habits, stay tuned for the October term.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The ban applies to all customers that Thames Water supplies with drinking water and comes into effect on Thursday.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
That has proven extremely controversial - and the BBC was told in February government plans to make the UK a "world leader" in AI could put already stretched supplies of drinking water under strain.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Cyclospora cayetanensis, often referred to as just Cyclospora, has caused an ongoing and widespread outbreak of cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness that’s typically contracted by eating or drinking feces-tainted fresh produce or water.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
But so many more animals were now drinking from the river that it was always running low.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
