ardent spirits

American  

plural noun

1. strong alcoholic liquors made by distillation, as brandy, whiskey, or gin.

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ardent spirits British  

plural noun

1. spirits, such as rum, whisky, etc

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Etymology

Origin of ardent spirits

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ardent spirits

Yet the nation's most famous glutton spurned ardent spirits for orange juice and lemon pop.

From Time Magazine Archive

The infant may cry for its mother’s milk, and for nourishing food, but none was ever heard to cry for ardent spirits.

From Select Temperance Tracts by American Tract Society

The great charm of the Mess is to those young, ardent spirits fresh from Sandhurst or Eton, sick of mathematics and bored with false quantities.

From Arthur O'Leary His Wanderings And Ponderings In Many Lands by Lever, Charles James

Even the ardent spirits beneath the gallery had ceased to applaud; they sat back in the shadow, all their enthusiasm quenched.

From The Turnstile by Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley)

Before 1844 a co-operative society had already been formed and failed at Rochdale in Lancashire, yet some ardent spirits planned to form another.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 3 "Convention" to "Copyright" by Various