bottle

[ bot-l ]

/ ˈbɒt l /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bottle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

the contents of such a container; as much as such a container contains: a bottle of wine.

bottled cow's milk, milk formulas, or substitute mixtures given to infants instead of mother's milk: raised on the bottle.

the bottle, intoxicating beverages; liquor: He became addicted to the bottle.

verb (used with object), bot·tled, bot·tling.

to put into or seal in a bottle: to bottle grape juice.

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

Verb Phrases

bottle up,

to repress, control, or restrain: He kept all of his anger bottled up inside him.
to enclose or entrap: Traffic was bottled up in the tunnel.

Nearby words

botte, bottega, botticelli, botticelli, sandro, bottine, bottle, bottle baby, bottle bank, bottle bill, bottle cap, bottle club

Idioms

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

Origin of bottle

1325–75; Middle English botel < Anglo-French; Old French bo(u)teille < Medieval Latin butticula, equivalent to Late Latin butti(s) butt⁴ + -cula -cule¹

Related forms

bot·tle·like, adjectivewell-bot·tled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for bottle up (1 of 3)

bottle up

verb (tr, adverb)

to restrain (powerful emotion)

to keep (an army or other force) contained or trappedthe French fleet was bottled up in Le Havre

British Dictionary definitions for bottle up (2 of 3)

bottle

/ (ˈbɒtəl) /

noun

a vessel, often of glass and typically cylindrical with a narrow neck that can be closed with a cap or cork, for containing liquids
(as modifier)a bottle rack

Also called: bottleful the amount such a vessel will hold

a container equipped with a teat that holds a baby's milk or other liquid; nursing bottle
the contents of such a containerthe baby drank his bottle

short for magnetic bottle

British slang nerve; courage (esp in the phrase lose one's bottle)

British slang money collected by street entertainers or buskers

full bottle Australian slang well-informed and enthusiastic about something

the bottle informal drinking of alcohol, esp to excess

verb (tr)

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

to store (gas) in a portable container under pressure

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

British slang (of a busker) to collect money from the bystanders

Word Origin for bottle

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

British Dictionary definitions for bottle up (3 of 3)

bottle

/ (ˈbɒtəl) /

noun

dialect a bundle, esp of hay

Word Origin for bottle

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with bottle up (1 of 2)

bottle up

Repress, contain, hold back; also, confine or trap. For example, The psychiatrist said Eve had been bottling up her anger for years, or The accident bottled up traffic for miles. This idiom likens other kinds of restraint to liquid being contained in a bottle. [Mid-1800s]

Idioms and Phrases with bottle up (2 of 2)

bottle

In addition to the idiom beginning with bottle

bottle up

also see:

crack a bottle
hit the bottle