drinking

[ dring-king ]

adjective

1. suitable or safe to drink:

   drinking water.

2. used in drinking:

   a drinking glass.

3. addicted to or indulging excessively in alcohol:

   Is he a drinking man?

4. of or relating to the act of drinking, especially the drinking of alcohol:

   a drinking companion.

noun

1. habitual and excessive consumption of alcohol:

   His drinking caused him to lose his job.

Other Words From

• un·drinking adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of drinking¹

A Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; drink, -ing ², -ing ¹

Example Sentences

In 2016, China’s Ministry of Water Resources declared that more than 80% of the country’s groundwater is unsafe for drinking, meaning citizens must boil water or purchase bottled water.

From Fortune

These water containers sit in special pockets on most hiking packs, which have an opening for the bladder’s drinking tube so you can sip throughout the day while keeping your hands free for other things.

From Popular-Science

The wide-slide closure makes refilling simple, and the drinking tube can be disconnected from the reservoir by pushing a button at the connecting joint.

From Popular-Science

He goes on to explain that he learned it flowed into Lake Erie, the source of Cleveland’s drinking water, as he stood outside a slaughterhouse watching “a great stream of dirty water rushing from it right into the river.”

From Outside Online

Excessive drinking brought death early, typically 29 years sooner than would have been expected.

From Science News

Before anti-vaxxers, there were anti-fluoriders: a group who spread fear about the anti-tooth decay agent added to drinking water.

From The Daily Beast

Placed in drinking water, fluoride can serve people who otherwise have poor access to dental care.

From The Daily Beast

Added to drinking water at concentrations of around one part per million, fluoride ions stick to dental plaque.

From The Daily Beast

Early on, the sexual protagonist complains that her Molson-drinking husband is pretty much an incompetent Neanderthal.

From The Daily Beast

Nobody ever says they want to become a cop so they can bust people for urinating in public or drinking alcohol on their stoop.

From The Daily Beast

Outside the hotel he came upon the two sisters sitting on a bench and drinking coffee.

From Project Gutenberg

A quite young child will, for example, pretend to do something, as to take an empty cup and carry out the semblance of drinking.

From Project Gutenberg

Smoking was called drinking tobacco, as the fashionable method was to "put it through the nose" or exhale it through the nostrils.

From Project Gutenberg

Smoking now is as common as eating and drinking, and to smoke amongst ladies is a vulgarity.

From Project Gutenberg

The French habit of coffee-drinking and the English habit of tea-drinking are also cases in point.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• expenditure
• utilization