bottle

¹

[bot-l]

noun

1. a portable container for holding liquids, characteristically having a neck and mouth and made of glass or plastic.

2. the contents of such a container; as much as such a container contains.

   a bottle of wine.

3. bottled cow's milk, milk formulas, or substitute mixtures given to infants instead of mother's milk.

   raised on the bottle.

4. the bottle, intoxicating beverages; liquor.

   He became addicted to the bottle.

verb (used with object)

bottled, bottling 

1. to put into or seal in a bottle.

   to bottle grape juice.

2. British.,  to preserve (fruit or vegetables) by heating to a sufficient temperature and then sealing in a jar.

verb phrase

1. bottle up

   1. to repress, control, or restrain.

      He kept all of his anger bottled up inside him.

   2. to enclose or entrap.

      Traffic was bottled up in the tunnel.

bottle

²

[bot-l]

noun

Architecture.

1. boltel.

bottle

¹

/ ˈbɒtəl /

noun

1. 1. a vessel, often of glass and typically cylindrical with a narrow neck that can be closed with a cap or cork, for containing liquids

   2. ( as modifier )

      a bottle rack

2. Also called: bottleful. the amount such a vessel will hold

3. 1. a container equipped with a teat that holds a baby's milk or other liquid; nursing bottle

   2. the contents of such a container

      the baby drank his bottle

4. short for magnetic bottle

5. slang,  nerve; courage (esp in the phrase lose one's bottle )

6. slang,  money collected by street entertainers or buskers

7. slang,  well-informed and enthusiastic about something

8. informal,  drinking of alcohol, esp to excess

verb

1. to put or place (wine, beer, jam, etc) in a bottle or bottles

2. to store (gas) in a portable container under pressure

3. slang,  to injure by thrusting a broken bottle into (a person)

4. slang,  (of a busker) to collect money from the bystanders

bottle

²

/ ˈbɒtəl /

noun

1. dialect,  a bundle, esp of hay

Other Word Forms

• bottlelike adjective
• well-bottled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bottle¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bottle¹

C14: from Old French botaille , from Medieval Latin butticula literally: a little cask, from Late Latin buttis cask, _butt ⁴

Origin of bottle²

C14: from Old French botel , from botte bundle, of Germanic origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. hit the bottle, to drink alcohol to excess often or habitually.

More idioms and phrases containing bottle

• crack a bottle
• hit the bottle

Example Sentences

Anticipating the Thanksgiving holiday and mountains of leftover turkey sandwiches to come, Kraft Heinz this month began selling its Heinz Homestyle Turkey Gravy with a new, squeezable bottle.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s pretty extreme. I worked for six months to get two enormous bottle trees here.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Then, of course, there’s a crowded calendar of holiday parties to attend—and the attendant social pressure to bring bottles that aptly acknowledge the hosts’ generosity and also accord with their individual tastes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The existing tax, which mainly applies to fizzy drinks, will be applied to bottles and cartons of milk-based drinks, including milkshakes, flavoured milk, milk substitute drinks and lattes, adding a few pence to their cost.

Read more on BBC

In the open sewer outside, plastic bags and bottles drift through charcoal-grey sludge, its stench thick in the air.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• glass 
• jar 
• jug 
• urn 
• vial