bottle
1 Americannoun
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a portable container for holding liquids, characteristically having a neck and mouth and made of glass or plastic.
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the contents of such a container; as much as such a container contains.
a bottle of wine.
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bottled cow's milk, milk formulas, or substitute mixtures given to infants instead of mother's milk.
raised on the bottle.
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the bottle, intoxicating beverages; liquor.
He became addicted to the bottle.
verb (used with object)
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to put into or seal in a bottle.
to bottle grape juice.
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British. to preserve (fruit or vegetables) by heating to a sufficient temperature and then sealing in a jar.
verb phrase
idioms
noun
noun
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a vessel, often of glass and typically cylindrical with a narrow neck that can be closed with a cap or cork, for containing liquids
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( as modifier )
a bottle rack
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Also called: bottleful. the amount such a vessel will hold
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a container equipped with a teat that holds a baby's milk or other liquid; nursing bottle
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the contents of such a container
the baby drank his bottle
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short for magnetic bottle
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slang nerve; courage (esp in the phrase lose one's bottle )
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slang money collected by street entertainers or buskers
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slang well-informed and enthusiastic about something
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informal drinking of alcohol, esp to excess
verb
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to put or place (wine, beer, jam, etc) in a bottle or bottles
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to store (gas) in a portable container under pressure
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slang to injure by thrusting a broken bottle into (a person)
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slang (of a busker) to collect money from the bystanders
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bottlesimple
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bottlessimple
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have bottledperfect
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has bottledperfect
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am bottlingprogressive
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are bottlingprogressive
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is bottlingprogressive
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have been bottlingperfect progressive
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has been bottlingperfect progressive
Past
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bottledsimple
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had bottledperfect
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was bottlingprogressive
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were bottlingprogressive
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had been bottlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bottle
1325–75; Middle English botel < Anglo-French; Old French bo ( u ) teille < Medieval Latin butticula, equivalent to Late Latin butti ( s ) butt 4 + -cula -cule 1
Explanation
A bottle is a container, often made of glass, that gets narrower toward the top. You can choose to buy soda in cans or bottles. Some people drink chocolate milk from a bottle, and others prefer to sip a bottle of beer. Babies drink from a bottle that's made of glass or plastic and topped with a nipple. To bottle something is to put or store it — usually a liquid or a gas — in bottles. Colloquially, someone "hits the bottle" when they drink too much alcohol. And if you keep your feelings to yourself, you can say you tend to "bottle things up."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It's like we have recreated a little bit of the Universe in a bottle in our lab."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
But the empire of ranch is much bigger than a bottle of the original sauce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Honorable mention: Norway’s star striker Erling Haaland, who went viral for bringing home a taxidermy raccoon holding a whiskey bottle that he reportedly bought for $750 from Wild Bill’s Western Store in Dallas.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Another added: "That's gonna be a story if we bottle it, great work nonetheless."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Why did the boy stand on the bottle? To leap through the window!”
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
"We have been in this business for 16 years," said Fayrouz El-Sayed, chief executive of Sadat City Chemical Fibre Factory, which produces polyester fibres from used plastic bottles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
But however they look and whatever they cost, ranch bottles are flying off shelves right now.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Alison remembers her mother collecting melted bottles and warped pans left by the Bel-Air fire that tore through Laurel Canyon shortly before the family relocated there.
From Los Angeles Times ● 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
The shoulder of the road is ground zero for a meteor shower of bottles, cans, tires, hubcaps, French fry holders, and discarded shopping bags.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
The company, which has been heavily criticised for multiple supply failures in recent months, apologised to customers and said two bottled water stations were open in the town for a second day.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The company announced at 10:40 that the rugby club water station was "temporarily closed" while they restock the bottled water.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
U.S. sales of bottled ranch dressing topped $1.5 billion over the past year, making ranch even bigger than ketchup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Erewhon has its own branded 16-ounce bottled organic coconut water for $11, or you can purchase a 16-ounce bottle of Harmless Harvest for $5.49.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
The last stop on our tour was at a small market where Akhi had me buy a package of plain crackers, bottled water, almonds, and two bananas.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Coca-Cola reported higher first-quarter profit, boosted by growth in sales of concentrates, which it sells to bottling partners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Net revenue increased 12% to $12.5 billion—mostly driven by strong sales of concentrates, the syrups and flavor mixtures Coca-Cola sells to its bottling partners—ahead of the $12.2 billion Wall Street had forecast.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
So at the same time as worrying about their male classmates "bottling things up", girls are also feeling scared about how some boys and men - aping Manosphere behaviours - might act.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
Influencers and brands are attempting to cash in by bottling and selling Carolyn’s unreplicable je ne sais quoi.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
I spent my summers bottling peaches and my winters rotating supplies.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
