bottle
1 Americannoun
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a portable container for holding liquids, characteristically having a neck and mouth and made of glass or plastic.
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the contents of such a container; as much as such a container contains.
a bottle of wine.
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bottled cow's milk, milk formulas, or substitute mixtures given to infants instead of mother's milk.
raised on the bottle.
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the bottle, intoxicating beverages; liquor.
He became addicted to the bottle.
verb (used with object)
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bottles,
present (3rd person singular)
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bottled,
past participle, past
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bottling
present participle
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to put into or seal in a bottle.
to bottle grape juice.
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British. to preserve (fruit or vegetables) by heating to a sufficient temperature and then sealing in a jar.
verb phrase
idioms
noun
noun
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a vessel, often of glass and typically cylindrical with a narrow neck that can be closed with a cap or cork, for containing liquids
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( as modifier )
a bottle rack
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Also called: bottleful. the amount such a vessel will hold
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a container equipped with a teat that holds a baby's milk or other liquid; nursing bottle
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the contents of such a container
the baby drank his bottle
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short for magnetic bottle
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slang nerve; courage (esp in the phrase lose one's bottle )
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slang money collected by street entertainers or buskers
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slang well-informed and enthusiastic about something
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informal drinking of alcohol, esp to excess
verb
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to put or place (wine, beer, jam, etc) in a bottle or bottles
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to store (gas) in a portable container under pressure
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slang to injure by thrusting a broken bottle into (a person)
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slang (of a busker) to collect money from the bystanders
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bottlesimple
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bottlessimple
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have bottledperfect
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has bottledperfect
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am bottlingprogressive
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are bottlingprogressive
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is bottlingprogressive
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have been bottlingperfect progressive
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has been bottlingperfect progressive
Past
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bottledsimple
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had bottledperfect
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was bottlingprogressive
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were bottlingprogressive
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had been bottlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bottle
1325–75; Middle English botel < Anglo-French; Old French bo ( u ) teille < Medieval Latin butticula, equivalent to Late Latin butti ( s ) butt 4 + -cula -cule 1
Explanation
A bottle is a container, often made of glass, that gets narrower toward the top. You can choose to buy soda in cans or bottles. Some people drink chocolate milk from a bottle, and others prefer to sip a bottle of beer. Babies drink from a bottle that's made of glass or plastic and topped with a nipple. To bottle something is to put or store it — usually a liquid or a gas — in bottles. Colloquially, someone "hits the bottle" when they drink too much alcohol. And if you keep your feelings to yourself, you can say you tend to "bottle things up."
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.
See Examples For:
He carries a little bottle of it in his briefcase, sometimes getting it confiscated by airport security.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
In the heat and humidity of Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, that meant the shuttle stack would start to drip like a water bottle on a muggy day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
The candidate has said the gesture was a joke performed with a water bottle.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
They brought over a bottle of wine after the tree was removed, which was kind, though it was a $9 bottle for a job that would have cost them several hundred dollars.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
I use my water bottle as an excuse to buy myself time to think about what Pua is saying.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
For example, building materials and boxed water — which, Arnaquq-Baril says, was chosen over plastic bottles to leave “less toxic garbage in the Arctic” — were shipped by sealift.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Helen of Troy spans home and outdoor brands such as Hydro Flask water bottles, as well as beauty and wellness brands like Revlon, Bed Head and Vicks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
Sports commentator Yan cast doubt on whether the reputation of Mbappe, whose face has adorned drinks bottles and advertising campaigns in China, can ever fully recover.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Cobb, who estimated that she picks up diapers and bottles filled with urine once or twice a week, said she’s not sure what the solution is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Fine,” Ella mumbled as she made a tiny mound of dirt in the middle of the circle of bottles and placed the seed inside.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Better to “keep calm and carry on,” as the old wartime slogan put it, than to be seen cleaning supermarket shelves of bottled water and canned tuna.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Qatari liquefied-natural gas shipments remain bottled up inside the Persian Gulf, and a global surge in energy prices has continued even with more oil shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
But he’s bottled here in a role that requires him to be unexciting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
So, perhaps the biggest lesson here is that recovery cannot be bottled and sold.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
Before Audrey could respond, Mrs. Dorn popped into the doorway, carrying a tray of assorted cheeses and two bottled waters.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
That adds to Carlsberg’s bottling agreements with the American food-and-beverage group in a raft of markets including the U.K.,
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Pepsi needs to stop tinkering and consider more fundamental changes, including a spinoff of its bottling operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Coke itself absorbed years of margin pain before shedding its North American bottling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Those spirits look poised to benefit from that same workaround tied to bulk shipments and U.S.-based bottling operations.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
My family always spent the warm months bottling fruit for storage, which Dad said we’d need in the Days of Abomination.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
