vinegar

[ vin-i-ger ]

noun

1. a sour liquid consisting of dilute and impure acetic acid, obtained by acetous fermentation from wine, cider, beer, ale, or the like: used as a condiment, preservative, etc.
2. Pharmacology. a solution of a medicinal substance in dilute acetic acid, or vinegar.
3. sour or irritable speech, manner, or countenance:

   a note of vinegar in his voice.

4. Informal. vigor; high spirits; vim.

vinegar

/ ˈvɪnɪɡə /

noun

1. a sour-tasting liquid consisting of impure dilute acetic acid, made by oxidation of the ethyl alcohol in beer, wine, or cider. It is used as a condiment or preservative
2. sourness or peevishness of temper, countenance, speech, etc
3. pharmacol a medicinal solution in dilute acetic acid
4. informal.
   vitality

verb

1. tr to apply vinegar to

Derived Forms

• ˈvinegarish, adjective
• ˈvinegar-ˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• vine·gar·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vinegar¹

1250–1300; Middle English vinegre < Old French, equivalent to vin wine + egre, aigre sour ( eager )

Word History and Origins

Origin of vinegar¹

C13: from Old French vinaigre, from vin wine + aigre sour, from Latin acer sharp

Example Sentences

“Materials don’t usually encounter a pH that’s that low, so it’s not like if you put PDKs in vinegar, the polymer is going to start breaking down,” Helms says.

From Science News

Discard the bay leaf, then stir in the vinegar, and season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

From Washington Post

Made with little more than tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt and spices, the umami-packed ingredient can help add a missing element to a dish.

From Washington Post

Personally, I went for three varying dilutions of vinegar for cleaning and one water-only bottle for misting plants.

From Popular-Science

Take a bite of an onion, chase it with a shot of vinegar, and then finish with a chunk of lemon.

From Popular-Science

Caligula drank “pearls of great price dissolved in vinegar.”

From The Daily Beast

Lohse and his beleaguered fellow pledges were, he claims, forced to chug vinegar and to dine on the dreaded “vomlet.”

From The Daily Beast

Lexington (North Carolina) vinegar-pepper sauce comes in a small ramekin on the plate.

From The Daily Beast

After a year, they would be washed with vinegar, dressed, and displayed.

From The Daily Beast

Women would first bathe their feet in a mixture of vinegar and natural vegetation.

From The Daily Beast

Narcotic poisons are neutralized by vinegar:—Narcotics … torpor … strong wine … sour wine … vinegar.

From Project Gutenberg

There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to his mouth.

From Project Gutenberg

Battle of Vinegar hill, at which the Irish rebels were completely routed and the insurrection crushed.

From Project Gutenberg

Either of them, or distilled vinegar alone, may be rubbed into a bald patch with a tooth-brush.

From Project Gutenberg

At present, I am getting some sleep again, but I still eat mechanically, horsewise—rubbing my mouth with vinegar.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• marinade