samshu

American

[sam-shoo, -syoo] / ˈsæm ʃu, -syu /

noun

a Chinese liqueur distilled from millet or rice.

samshu British

/ ˈsæmʃuː, -sjuː /

noun

an alcoholic drink from China that is made from fermented rice and resembles sake

"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 samshu

1690–1700; < dialectal Chinese (Guangdong) sàam-sìu, akin to Chinese sān shāo three boilings, brewings

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.

He gave him green tea to drink and a cup of alcoholic beverage--called samshu--which is made from fermented rice.

From Project Gutenberg

He was holding in his hand a blue china bowl filled with samshu.

From Project Gutenberg

There they smoked opium, drank samshu, and nodded off to sleep.

From Project Gutenberg

In all such cases the crew has either gone ashore to drink samshu or to smoke opium, or else they lie asleep below.

From Project Gutenberg

Samshoo, Samshu, sam′shōō, n. an ardent spirit distilled by the Chinese from rice: any kind of spirits.

From Project Gutenberg

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