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• beer
  beer

  noun

  an alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermentation from cereals, usually malted barley, and flavored with hops and the like for a slightly bitter taste.
• Beer
  Beer

  noun

  Thomas, 1889–1940, U.S. author.

beer

¹ American  

[beer] / bɪər /

noun

• beers
  plural

1. an alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermentation from cereals, usually malted barley, and flavored with hops and the like for a slightly bitter taste.

2. any of various beverages, whether alcoholic or not, made from roots, molasses or sugar, yeast, etc..

   root beer; ginger beer.

3. an individual serving of beer; a glass, can, or bottle of beer.

   We'll have three beers.

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Beer ² American  

[beer] / bɪər /

noun

1. Thomas, 1889–1940, U.S. author.

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beer British  

/ bɪə /

noun

1. an alcoholic drink brewed from malt, sugar, hops, and water and fermented with yeast Compare ale

2. a slightly fermented drink made from the roots or leaves of certain plants

   ginger beer

   nettle beer

3. (modifier) relating to or used in the drinking of beer

   beer glass

   beer mat

4. (modifier) in which beer is drunk, esp (of licensed premises) having a licence to sell beer

   beer house

   beer cellar

   beer garden

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• beers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of beer

First recorded before 1000; Middle English bere, Old English bēor; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German bior, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch bēr, Dutch, German Bier ( Old Norse bjōrr, probably from Old English); further origin uncertain

Explanation

Beer is an alcoholic drink usually made from barley and hops. A beer is a can or pint of the stuff. Too much beer can make people, often college students, wear lampshades as hats or dance like chickens. Cheers! Beer is a foamy, malt-flavored beverage with a relatively low alcohol content. Beer is actually the most commonly consumed alcoholic drink around the world, and it's believed to be the oldest too. Brewers make beer by fermenting a grain — usually barley or wheat — and adding hops or other flavoring agents. The word comes from the Old English beor, and though experts disagree about its roots, one guess names the Vulgar Latin biber, "beverage," as a possible origin.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beer Beer beers

Carlsberg reported that its total volumes grew 2.8% in the first half of the year, while beer volumes declined 1%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

It essentially means someone who will drink anything: beer, wine, cocktails, coffee, sparkling water, nonalcoholic beer.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

"There is always a chance that we can recover the complete DNA, and then we can do a small re-brew of the exact beer that was found in the 1860s," Panis said.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

We just don’t want to spend $10 for a beer to hang out in a bar and then pay for an Uber to get home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

She poured marula juice into the water for Crocodile Guts because she didn’t have any beer.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

But Beer accepts, however, that hockey cannot match the resources available to wealthier professional sports.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Beer volumes were 0.5% higher on year, while non-beer climbed 6% on year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Companies such as Boston Beer, Sherwin-Williams and Unilever have raised prices or plan to do so soon to offset rising raw material costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

“Meet my fiancé,” Beer wrote, much to the delight of the 1.5 million people who liked the post within the first hour.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

It isn’t pronounced either Bear or Beer, as people will say it, but something between the two, as only Germans can give it.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

McLeod said in the 1990s, he did bar promotions around the smaller beers in the Washington, D.C., area.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

‘Pony’ beers are getting attention from brewers like Constellation Brands that want to appeal to moderation-minded drinkers and the GLP-1 crowd.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Iraq game in New Jersey, fries and beers were selling for an even steeper $20 each, fans told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

“I was selling beers for five hours straight,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

And behind that is the refrigerator, or cooler, which currently contains the 210 beers that Ben has not yet peed into, the turkey- that-looks-like-ham sandwiches, and some Coke.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green