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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of proof spirit

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

Thousands of bottles of the 80 proof spirit were broken and strewn across the highway and in a nearby ditch.

From Fox News

The chief engineer of the ship prepared a number of bottles with proof spirit, in which a lot of these scorpions and centipedes were preserved, and which were secured by passengers curious in such matters.

From Project Gutenberg

Peruvian bark, bruised, one ounce and a half.Orange-peel, do. one ounce.Brandy, or proof spirit, one pint.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg