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definitions

bottle

1
[bot-l]
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noun

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,
  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.

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RELATED WORDS

suppress, repress, check, collar, contain, cork, corner, cramp, curb, enclose, entrap, restrain, restrict, trap

Nearby words

  1. botte,
  2. bottega,
  3. botticelli,
  4. botticelli, sandro,
  5. bottine,
  6. bottle baby,
  7. bottle bank,
  8. bottle bill,
  9. bottle cap,
  10. bottle club

Idioms

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

Origin of bottle

1
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 formsbot·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

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

bottle

1

noun

  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
Also called: bottleful the amount such a vessel will hold
  1. a container equipped with a teat that holds a baby's milk or other liquid; nursing bottle
  2. 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
See also bottle out, bottle up

Word Origin for bottle

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

bottle

2

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
Word Origin and History for bottle up
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with bottle up

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]

bottle

In addition to the idiom beginning with bottle

  • bottle up

also see:

  • crack a bottle
  • hit the bottle
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.