ardent spirits

American  

plural noun

1. strong alcoholic liquors made by distillation, as brandy, whiskey, or gin.

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ardent spirits British  

plural noun

1. spirits, such as rum, whisky, etc

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Etymology

Origin of ardent spirits

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ardent spirits

Yet the nation's most famous glutton spurned ardent spirits for orange juice and lemon pop.

From Time Magazine Archive

Why should the few be protected from the sale of ardent spirits and the many left to be victims of temptation?

From Stand Up, Ye Dead by Norman Maclean

The infant may cry for its mother’s milk, and for nourishing food, but none was ever heard to cry for ardent spirits.

From Select Temperance Tracts by American Tract Society

Even the ardent spirits beneath the gallery had ceased to applaud; they sat back in the shadow, all their enthusiasm quenched.

From The Turnstile by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason

Ministers and christians, a few years since, were engaged in the use and sale of ardent spirits; but they were all wrong, and they now acknowledge their error.

From Thoughts on African Colonization by William Lloyd Garrison