proof spirit

American  

noun

1. an alcoholic liquor, or mixture of alcohol and water, containing a standard amount of alcohol. In the U.S. proof spirit has a specific gravity of .93353 (containing one half of its volume of alcohol of a specific gravity of .7939 at 60° F). In Britain proof spirit has a specific gravity of .91984.

---

proof spirit British  

noun

1. (in Britain and Canada) a mixture of alcohol and water or an alcoholic beverage that contains 49.28 per cent of alcohol by weight, 57.1 per cent by volume at 51°F: up until 1980 used as a standard of alcoholic liquids

2. (in the US) a similar standard mixture containing 50 per cent of alcohol by volume at 60°F

---

Etymology

Origin of proof spirit

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

proof spirit

If Salkindsohn's formula is used—tincture of iodine, 1 part; proof spirit, 15 parts—the gut can be kept permanently in the solution without becoming brittle.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Thomson, Alexis

The result, however, will not be eight measures of proof spirit; in consequence of the contraction which ensues, there will be a deficiency of about ℥iv in each gallon.

From The Art of Perfumery And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants by Piesse, George William Septimus

Tobacco yields its active matter to water and proof spirit, but most perfectly to the latter; long boiling weakens its powers.

From A Dissertation on the Medical Properties and Injurious Effects of the Habitual Use of Tobacco by Stuart, Moses

The water of wells should be boiled and passed through charcoal; and even then it might be mixed to a good purpose with a few drops of proof spirit.

From First Footsteps in East Africa by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

The Sonoma valley vineyards produce the lightest wines of all the Californian growths, some 211 of the white varieties indicating merely 15° of proof spirit, and the red ones no more than 17½°.

From Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Vizetelly, Henry