drink

[ dringk ]
See synonyms for: drinkdrankdrinkingdrinks on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),drank [drangk] /dræŋk/ or (Nonstandard) drunk [druhngk]; /drʌŋk/; drunk or, often, drank; drink·ing.

  1. to take water or other liquid into the mouth and swallow it; imbibe.

  2. to imbibe alcoholic drinks, especially habitually or to excess; tipple: He never drinks.They won't find jobs until they stop drinking.

  1. 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.

  2. to be savored or enjoyed by drinking: a wine that will drink deliciously for many years.

verb (used with object),drank [drangk] /dræŋk/ or (Nonstandard) drunk [druhngk]; /drʌŋk/; drunk or, often, drank; drink·ing.

  1. to take (a liquid) into the mouth and swallow.

  2. to take in (a liquid) in any manner; absorb.

  1. to take in through the senses, especially with eagerness and pleasure (often followed by in): He drank in the beauty of the scene.

  2. to swallow the contents of (a cup, glass, etc.).

  3. to propose or participate in a toast to (a person, thing, or event): to drink one's health.

noun

  1. any liquid that is swallowed to quench thirst, for nourishment, etc.; beverage.

  2. liquor; alcohol.

  1. excessive indulgence in alcohol: Drink was his downfall.

  2. a swallow or draft of liquid; potion: She took a drink of water before she spoke.

  3. Informal.Usually the drink . a large body of water, as a lake, ocean, river, etc.: His teammates threw him in the drink.

Origin of drink

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English drinken, Old English drincan; cognate with Dutch drinken, German trinken, Gothic drinkan, Old Norse drekka

synonym study For drink

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 For drink

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.

confusables note For drink

See drunk.

Other words for drink

Other words from drink

  • outdrink, verb (used with object), out·drank or (Nonstandard) out·drunk; out·drunk or, often, out·drank; out·drink·ing.
  • o·ver·drink, verb (used with object), o·ver·drank or (Nonstandard) o·ver·drunk; o·ver·drunk or, often, o·ver·drank; o·ver·drink·ing.

Words Nearby drink

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use drink in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for drink

drink

/ (drɪŋk) /

verbdrinks, drinking, drank (dræŋk) or drunk (drʌŋk)

  1. to swallow (a liquid); imbibe

  2. (tr) to take in or soak up (liquid); absorb: this plant drinks a lot of water

  1. (tr usually foll by in) to pay close attention (to); be fascinated (by): he drank in the speaker's every word

  2. (tr) to bring (oneself into a certain condition) by consuming alcohol

  3. (tr often foll by away) to dispose of or ruin by excessive expenditure on alcohol: he drank away his fortune

  4. (intr) to consume alcohol, esp to excess

  5. (when intr, foll by to) to drink (a toast) in celebration, honour, or hope (of)

  6. drink someone under the table to be able to drink more intoxicating beverage than someone

  7. drink the health of to salute or celebrate with a toast

  8. drink with the flies Australian informal to drink alone

noun

  1. liquid suitable for drinking; any beverage

  2. alcohol or its habitual or excessive consumption

  1. a portion of liquid for drinking; draught

  2. the drink informal the sea

Origin of drink

1
Old English drincan; related to Old Frisian drinka, Gothic drigkan, Old High German trinkan

Derived forms of drink

  • drinkable, adjective

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

Other 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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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