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 Word Forms

• undrinking adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of drinking¹

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

Example Sentences

No one blinks at Karol G headlining the world’s biggest festivals singing entirely in Spanish, drinking deeply from Latin music history.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They compared the immune response after drinking beverages sweetened with fructose to the response after drinking glucose-sweetened beverages.

Read more on Science Daily

He's laboratory focuses on how environmental stressors, including UV radiation and arsenic in drinking water, disrupt molecular pathways and damage cellular systems in ways that promote cancer.

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For drinks writer Dave Infante, the return of sweet, photogenic drinks fits into a much older story about American drinking habits: we like sweet stuff.

Read more on Salon

As for the bandits in Jibia, they requested access to clean drinking water and safe passage for their cattle as they moved to new grazing pastures.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• expenditure 
• utilization