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

See Examples For:

proof spirit

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 Sir Richard Francis Burton

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 George William Septimus Piesse

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 Under the Southern Cross or Travels in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Samoa, and Other Pacific Islands by Maturin Murray Ballou

In England proof spirit is defined by Act 58, George III., to be such as shall at a temperature of 51° Fahrenheit weigh exactly the &frac12x13; part of an equal measure of distilled water.

From The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section P and Q by Project Gutenberg

Because it contains so much proof spirit, and not because it contains so much opium. 

From Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey