carouse

American  

[kuh-rouz] / kəˈraʊz /

verb (used without object)

caroused, carousing

1. to engage in a drunken revel.

   They caroused all night.

   Synonyms:

   drink, celebrate, revel

2. to drink deeply and frequently.

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noun

1. carousal.

carouse British  

/ kəˈraʊz /

verb

1. (intr) to have a merry drinking spree; drink freely

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noun

1. another word for carousal

Other Word Forms

• carouser
  noun
• carousing
  noun

Etymology

Origin of carouse

First recorded in 1550–60; variant of garouse, from German gar aus (trinken) “(to drink) fully out,” i.e., “to drain the cup”; compare Middle French carous, from dialectal German gar ūs

Explanation

Carouse means to drink a lot of alcohol and behave in a loud, exuberant way. The neighbors will not appreciate it if you and your friends carouse in the backyard until dawn. Carouse comes from the German gar aus trinken meaning “all out," “drain the cup” or “drink up.” The English adopted the word in the 16th century, and it came to mean “sitting around drinking until closing time.” A noisy drinking party is sometimes called a carouse.

Example Sentences

You know, My Friends, with what a Brave Carouse I put a Second Mortgage on my House, So I could Buy a lot of Copper Shares— I even used the Savings of my Spouse!

From The Re-echo Club by Wells, Carolyn

Carouse, laugh, and be cruel to-day; to-morrow you will be hungry and you will groan: Ah, we have delayed too long!

From I.N.R.I. A prisoner's Story of the Cross by Rosegger, Peter

From Cradle unto Grave I keep a House OF Entertainment where may drowse Bacilli and kindred Germs—or feed—or breed Their festering Species in a deep Carouse.

From The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories by Twain, Mark

O that my Bottle one whole Diamond were, 90So fild with Nectar that a Flye might sup, And at one draught that thou mightst drinke it vp, Yet a Carouse not good enough I feare.

From Minor Poems of Michael Drayton by Brett, Cyril

Carouse the hunter's hoop.—"Carouse" has been already explained: the hunter's hoop alludes to the custom of hoops being marked on a drinking-pot, by which every man was to measure his draught.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 2 by Disraeli, Isaac