swizzle

American  

[swiz-uhl] / ˈswɪz əl /

noun

1. 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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verb (used with object)

swizzled, swizzling

1. to agitate (a beverage) with a swizzle stick.

2. to gulp down; guzzle.

swizzle British  

/ ˈswɪzəl /

noun

1. an unshaken cocktail

2. an alcoholic drink containing gin or rum

3. informal a swiz

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verb

1. (tr) to stir a swizzle stick in (a drink)

2. informal to swindle; cheat

Other Word Forms

• swizzler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of swizzle

First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swizzle swizzled swizzling

The South Carolina license plate on the Honda stopped in front of me at a red light, and its silhouette of the state’s signature palm looking regrettably like a tarantula atop a swizzle stick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025

Also included are a champagne swizzle stick and a metal-mounted foliate cocktail stick holder.

From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2023

Elaine Markoutsas, a design writer and editor in Chicago, came across cookie tins full of matchbooks and swizzle sticks while clearing out her mom’s house.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2022

Mr. Kanbar held some three dozen patents, including one for a swizzle stick that converts to a pair of magnifying glasses.

From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2022

Then she cleared everything—compact, billfold, laundry bill, toothbrush, a tin of aspirins, and a gold-plated swizzle stick—back into her handbag.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

She propped the flour bag on the boards, squeezing it gently between her short cherry-red nails, and asked if I had any questions, while I swizzled back-and-forth slowly.

From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2020

Correia says the Swizzle Inn’s version is the original, but wherever it first swizzled into existence, the drink has taken on a life of its own.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 14, 2020

"Well, I'll be swizzled," said one of them, excitedly, "who made the bridge?"

From William Adolphus Turnpike by Banks, William

He swizzled the ice around in his glass, still holding it up to the light.

From Unwise Child by Garrett, Randall

The tall narrow pots had a hole in the lid for splash-free swizzling.

From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2023

In the meantime, I’ll be here with the rest of you, worrying and swizzling in place.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 14, 2020

I tell the bow-tied bartender, who nods and gets right to swizzling and shaking, his brows knit tight in concentration.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 2, 2016

At restaurants just inside the French border they could be seen swizzling champagne, ordering such delicacies as speckled trout, fresh asparagus, vieux cognac.

From Time Magazine Archive

And here you are swizzling, and rattling your coppers.

From Mary Anerley : a Yorkshire Tale by Blackmore, R. D. (Richard Doddridge)