(often initial capital letter) the brandy distilled in and shipped from the legally delimited area surrounding the town of Cognac, in W central France.
any French brandy.
any good brandy.
a town in SW France: centre of the district famed for its brandy. Pop: 19 534 (1999)
(sometimes not capital) a high-quality grape brandy
Borrowed into English from French around 1585–95
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The firm represents brands such as Isabel Marant, Clinique and Hennessy Cognac and includes a strategic corporate communications division.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 21, 2026
In addition to the pork trade case, the Ministry of Commerce already began in January a case against imports of Cognac and other European wine-based spirits that come mainly from France.
From New York Times • Jun. 17, 2024
Joining Donalds at Tuesday night's events, dubbed "Congress, Cognac and Cigars," was his a Black colleague, Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, who appeared earlier in the day at a Trump campaign event targeting Pennsylvania's African-American voters.
From Salon • Jun. 5, 2024
China recently opened an anti-dumping investigation into European brandy — which mainly means French Cognac.
From Seattle Times • May 6, 2024
De Thou reckons the losses of the Roman Catholics before Cognac at more than 300 men.
From History of the Rise of the Huguenots Volume 2 by Baird, Henry Martyn
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.
