arrack

American  

[ar-uhk, uh-rak] / ˈær ək, əˈræk /

Or arak

noun

1. any of various spirituous liquors distilled in the East Indies and other parts of the East and Middle East from the fermented sap of toddy palms, or from fermented molasses, rice, or other materials.

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arrack British  

/ ˈærək /

noun

1. a coarse spirit distilled in various Eastern countries from grain, rice, sugar cane, etc

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Etymology

Origin of arrack

1595–1605; < Arabic ʿaraq literally, sweat, juice; raki

Example Sentences

He planned to focus on the city’s cosmopolitan night life, nibbling kibbe, drinking arrack, and taking in the vibe at beachside night clubs.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 5, 2017

Most of them, made supine by arrack cocktails and the prevailing air of lassitude, spent the day just slumbering and perspiring in the shade of flowering frangipani trees.

From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2016

Chinese factories were established on Java and Sumatra to make both fish sauce and arrack.

From Slate • May 30, 2012

What may be surprising—given fish sauce’s heady scent and England’s reputation for bland food—is that while buying all these barrels of arrack from Chinese merchants in Indonesia, British sailors also acquired a taste for ke-tchup.

From Slate • May 30, 2012

At Caltura, situated on the coast between Galle and Colombo, about thirty miles from the latter, in the midst of a district crowded with cocoanut-trees, the distillation of arrack is carried on quite extensively.

From The Pearl of India by Ballou, Maturin Murray