swizzle
[swiz-uh l]
- a tall drink, originating in Barbados, composed of full-flavored West Indian rum, lime juice, crushed ice, and sugar: typically served with a swizzle stick.
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- to agitate (a beverage) with a swizzle stick.
- to gulp down; guzzle.
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Origin of swizzle
First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for swizzle
Historical Examples
If enny one tries to swizzle me out of it I'm goin' to swizzle back, an' you can lay to that.
A Man to His MateJ. Allan Dunn
McGlade slowly and deliberately drank the last of his swizzle.
The ShadowArthur Stringer
In the sparkling “swizzle” was an infusion of the baneful Savannah flower.
The MaroonMayne Reid
At the worst of the storm there is neither Heaven nor Earth, but only a swizzle into which a man may be brewed.
Letters of Travel (1892-1913)Rudyard Kipling
Not fizz at all, but that old brewing of honey—mead—metheglin—old Saxon swizzle.
Sir Hilton's SinGeorge Manville Fenn
swizzle
- US an unshaken cocktail
- an alcoholic drink containing gin or rum
- British informal a swiz
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- (tr) to stir a swizzle stick in (a drink)
- British informal to swindle; cheat
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Word Origin
C19: of unknown origin
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
Word Origin and History for swizzle
n.
1813, name for various kinds of liquor drinks, or for intoxicating drinks generally, possibly a variant of switchel "a drink of molasses and water" (often mixed with rum), first attested 1790, of uncertain origin. Swizzle-stick attested by 1859.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper