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lager

1 American  
[lah-ger, law-] / ˈlɑ gər, ˈlɔ- /

noun

  1. Also called lager beer.  a beer stored from six weeks to six months for aging before use.

verb (used with object)

  1. to age (beer) usually by storing in tanks at just-below freezing temperatures for several weeks or months.

lager 2 American  
[lah-ger] / ˈlɑ gər /

noun

South African.

  1. laager.

lager 1 British  
/ ˈlɑːɡə /

noun

  1. a light-bodied effervescent beer, fermented in a closed vessel using yeasts that sink to the bottom of the brew Compare ale

"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
lager 2 British  
/ ˈlɑːɡə /

noun

  1. a variant spelling of laager

"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

Etymology

Origin of lager

1835–45; short for lager beer, half adoption, half translation of German Lagerbier. See lair 1, beer

Explanation

Lager is a common type of beer. When someone in a movie bellies up to a bar and orders a well-known brand of beer, it's usually a lager. Brewers distinguish lagers from other beers by the yeast used to ferment it, as well as its light color and what's often described as the "crisp" taste of a lager. This type of beer was first invented in 15th-century Bavaria. The name lager comes from lager beer and its German source, Lagerbier, or "beer brewed for keeping," a reference to the practice of storing lager in cold places while it matures.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In lager beers, foam stability is controlled by surface viscoelasticity.

From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2025

Seemingly nonstop construction has since turned Amazon workers and various contractors into regulars at the watering hole, where Speelman now stocks Texas-made Shiner Bock lager to appeal to transplants.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

“I’m more of a lager guy,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2025

In October, Reynolds and McElhenney announced they had taken co-ownership of Wrexham Lager which already sponsors Wrexham AFC and is said to be the oldest British lager brewery still in existence.

From BBC • Dec. 14, 2024

Kaz must have nodded because Per Haskell leaned back in his chair and took a sip of lager.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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