beer
- 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.
- any of various beverages, whether alcoholic or not, made from roots, molasses or sugar, yeast, etc.: root beer; ginger beer.
- an individual serving of beer; a glass, can, or bottle of beer: We'll have three beers.
Origin of beer
Beer
- Thomas,1889–1940, U.S. author.
Examples from the Web for beer
Contemporary Examples
We know that the skies are open season for all manner of drone traffic, from missile launchers to beer droppers.
I was bored, but I grabbed a red Solo cup, filled it with beer, and stayed with my group, chatting with the brothers about Jim.
We arrived to the din of a party in full swing: a band, multiple kegs of beer, dancing, foosball, and mantle diving.
Three were predictable: The Italians and French were, of course, wine imbibers and the Germans were deep in the beer cellar.
But there were two designations that seemed anachronisms to me: -- Spain and the United Kingdom among the beer swillers.
Historical Examples
While beer brings gladness, don't forget That water only makes you wet!
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Put a halter round her neck, and sell her for a pot of beer.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
And so to-night I am going to spend them, not prudently on bread, but prodigally on beer.
Ballads of a BohemianRobert W. Service
"If you will warrant the beer, I will warrant the throat," said John composedly.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Over his schooner of beer K. gathered something of the story.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
beer
- an alcoholic drink brewed from malt, sugar, hops, and water and fermented with yeastCompare ale
- a slightly fermented drink made from the roots or leaves of certain plantsginger beer; nettle beer
- (modifier) relating to or used in the drinking of beerbeer glass; beer mat
- (modifier) in which beer is drunk, esp (of licensed premises) having a licence to sell beerbeer house; beer cellar; beer garden
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for beer
n.
Old English beor "strong drink, beer, mead," a word of much-disputed and ambiguous origin, cognate with Old Frisian biar, Middle Dutch and Dutch bier, Old High German bior, German Bier.
Probably a 6c. West Germanic monastic borrowing of Vulgar Latin biber "a drink, beverage" (from Latin infinitive bibere "to drink;" see imbibe). Another suggestion is that it comes from Proto-Germanic *beuwoz-, from *beuwo- "barley." The native Germanic word for the beverage was the one that yielded ale (q.v.).
Beer was a common drink among most of the European peoples, as well as in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but was known to the Greeks and Romans only as an exotic product. [Buck]
They did have words for it, however. Greek brytos, used in reference to Thracian or Phrygian brews, was related to Old English breowan "brew;" Latin zythum is from Greek zythos, first used of Egyptian beer and treated as an Egyptian word but perhaps truly Greek and related to zyme "leaven." French bière is from Germanic. Spanish cerveza is from Latin cervesia "beer," perhaps related to Latin cremor "thick broth."
Old Church Slavonic pivo, source of the general Slavic word for "beer," is originally "a drink" (cf. Old Church Slavonic piti "drink"). French bière is a 16c. borrowing from German. U.S. slang beer goggles, through which every potential romantic partner looks desirable, is from 1986.