drink
[dringk]
- to take water or other liquid into the mouth and swallow it; imbibe.
- to imbibe alcoholic drinks, especially habitually or to excess; tipple: He never drinks. They won't find jobs until they stop drinking.
- to show one's respect, affection, or hopes with regard to a person, thing, or event by ceremoniously taking a swallow of wine or some other drink (often followed by to): They drank to his victory.
- to be savored or enjoyed by drinking: a wine that will drink deliciously for many years.
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- to take (a liquid) into the mouth and swallow.
- to take in (a liquid) in any manner; absorb.
- to take in through the senses, especially with eagerness and pleasure (often followed by in): He drank in the beauty of the scene.
- to swallow the contents of (a cup, glass, etc.).
- to propose or participate in a toast to (a person, thing, or event): to drink one's health.
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- any liquid that is swallowed to quench thirst, for nourishment, etc.; beverage.
- liquor; alcohol.
- excessive indulgence in alcohol: Drink was his downfall.
- a swallow or draft of liquid; potion: She took a drink of water before she spoke.
- Informal. a large body of water, as a lake, ocean, river, etc. (usually preceded by the): His teammates threw him in the drink.
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Origin of drink
before 900; Middle English drinken, Old English drincan; cognate with Dutch drinken, German trinken, Gothic drinkan, Old Norse drekka
Synonyms
See more synonyms for drink on Thesaurus.com2. tope. 5. quaff. 9. toast.
Synonym study
5. Drink, imbibe, sip refer to swallowing liquids. Drink is the general word: to drink coffee. Imbibe is formal in reference to actual drinking; it is used more often in the sense to absorb: to imbibe culture. Sip implies drinking little by little: to sip a cup of broth.
Usage note
As with many verbs of the pattern sing, sang, sung and ring, rang, rung, there is some confusion about the forms for the past tense and past participle of drink. The historical reason for this confusion is that originally verbs of this class in Old English had a past-tense singular form in a but a past-tense plural form in u. Generally the form in a has leveled out to become the standard past-tense form: We drank our coffee. However, the past-tense form in u, though considered nonstandard, occurs often in speech: We drunk our coffee.
The standard and most frequent form of the past participle of drink in both speech and writing is drunk : Who has drunk all the milk? However, perhaps because of the association of drunk with intoxication, drank is widely used as a past participle in speech by educated persons and must be considered an alternate standard form: The tourists had drank their fill of the scenery. See also drunk.
The standard and most frequent form of the past participle of drink in both speech and writing is drunk : Who has drunk all the milk? However, perhaps because of the association of drunk with intoxication, drank is widely used as a past participle in speech by educated persons and must be considered an alternate standard form: The tourists had drank their fill of the scenery. See also drunk.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for drink
Contemporary Examples
Their logic: the sea-creature would come alive and drink up any remaining alcohol.
Adults prepare food and drink dark sweet tea on the doorsteps of their homes as they watch their children playing.
Moviegoers enjoyed a drink at the bar and milled around waiting for the 10:15 p.m. showing of The Interview.
If you drink from a flute, do so from a tulip-shape one to concentrate the notes, Simonetti-Bryan says.
What tastes great to an American consumer may not be what folks in China or India would choose to eat or drink.
The Science of Ingredient InnovationDecember 15, 2014
Historical Examples
There is in this city a rag-picker so wealthy that he can afford to drink wine every day.
His mother lay on a wretched bed in the corner, half stupefied with drink.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
I'd worked wid my mouf full of dust, but could not stop to get a drink of water.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
As our horses would not drink it, it can be imagined how salt it was.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
And to his astonishment there was none of the shocking effect of his first drink of whisky.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
drink
- to swallow (a liquid); imbibe
- (tr) to take in or soak up (liquid); absorbthis plant drinks a lot of water
- (tr usually foll by in) to pay close attention (to); be fascinated (by)he drank in the speaker's every word
- (tr) to bring (oneself into a certain condition) by consuming alcohol
- (tr often foll by away) to dispose of or ruin by excessive expenditure on alcoholhe drank away his fortune
- (intr) to consume alcohol, esp to excess
- (when intr, foll by to) to drink (a toast) in celebration, honour, or hope (of)
- drink someone under the table to be able to drink more intoxicating beverage than someone
- drink the health of to salute or celebrate with a toast
- drink with the flies Australian informal to drink alone
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- liquid suitable for drinking; any beverage
- alcohol or its habitual or excessive consumption
- a portion of liquid for drinking; draught
- the drink informal the sea
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Word Origin
Old English drincan; related to Old Frisian drinka, Gothic drigkan, Old High German trinkan
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 drink
v.
Old English drincan "to drink," also "to swallow up, engulf" (class III strong verb; past tense dranc, past participle druncen), from Proto-Germanic *drengkan (cf. Old Saxon drinkan, Old Frisian drinka, Dutch drinken, Old High German trinkan, German trinken, Old Norse drekka, Gothic drigkan "to drink"), of uncertain origin, perhaps from a root meaning "to draw." Not found outside Germanic.
Most Indo-European words for this trace to PIE *po(i)- (cf. Greek pino, Latin biber, Irish ibim, Old Church Slavonic piti, Russian pit'; see imbibe).
The noun meaning "beverage, alcoholic beverage" was in late Old English.
The noun, AS. drinc, would normally have given southern drinch (cf. drench), but has been influenced by the verb. [Weekley]
To drink like a fish is first recorded 1747.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with drink
drink
In addition to the idioms beginning with drink
- drink like a fish
- drink to
also see:
- drive someone crazy (to drink)
- into the drink
- meat and drink to
- nurse a drink
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.