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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

A connoisseur of the craft, he’s logged more than 1,500 distinct varieties of beer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

After leaving Brewdog, Watt launched a new beer brand, Second Best, offering nearly 20% of shares to people who lost money after investing in Equity for Punks.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Looking inside the bar, an AFP reporter saw a row of stools and bottles of beer still on tables covered with white dust.

From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026

Matcha and fresh coconut water both feel refreshing and special, making them perfect for afternoon hangs, brunches or any gathering where you want to switch things up from the expected cocktails or beer.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

“Want your root beer in a champagne flute?”

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

According to PBS Thai, the owner of Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao previously owned another pub in Thailand's Yasothon province, which was also destroyed by fire in December 2019.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Dan Kleban, the founder of the Maine Beer Company, had originally run for Senate but dropped out and endorsed Mills after she entered the race last year.*

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

“It should never be easier for speculative developers to buy up land and build for-profit housing that is not affordable than it is for fire survivors to come home,” said Dawson Beer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Beer sales grew 2% to $2.28 billion, while wine and spirit sales fell 47% due to 2025 divestitures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

When we reached the Throgs Neck Bridge, Doug Swieteck started “One Thousand Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” until Mrs. Baker came down the bus aisle and didn’t need to say anything.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

Still, Briggs said his money did not feel like it went as far in the U.S. as it would back home in Scotland, pointing to $7 fries and $10 beers in Boston and New York.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

“You can’t actually feel bad about being excluded,” Rogers says over beers and fries at an airy cafe in Hollywood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

"Back in the early nineties, we brewed three beers, a mild, a bitter and Old Hooky," he said.

From BBC ● May 25, 2026

The people-sea surrounding the bar parts and Tiny gets a couple of beers and offers me one.

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan