whiskey
noun
an alcoholic liquor distilled from a fermented mash of grain, as barley, rye, or corn, and usually containing from 43 to 50 percent alcohol.
whiskey
American
[hwis-kee, wis-]
/ ˈʰwɪs ki, ˈwɪs- /
Or
whisky
noun
-
whiskeys
plural
-
an alcoholic liquor distilled from a fermented mash of grain, as barley, rye, or corn, and usually containing from 43 to 50 percent alcohol.
-
a drink of whiskey.
-
a word used in communications to represent the letter W.
adjective
Whiskey
1
British
/ ˈwɪskɪ /
noun
whiskey
2
British
/ ˈwɪskɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of whiskey
1705–15; short for whiskybae < Irish uisce beatha or Scots Gaelic uisge beatha, ultimately translation of Medieval Latin aqua vitae literally, water of life; cf. usquebaugh
Vocabulary lists containing whiskey
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:
Think about drinks produced in Ireland and you'd probably picture a creamy pint of stout or a tumbler of amber whiskey.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Boycotts of U.S. whiskey have decimated a key economic driver for the American South.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
Honorable mention: Norway’s star striker Erling Haaland, who went viral for bringing home a taxidermy raccoon holding a whiskey bottle that he reportedly bought for $750 from Wild Bill’s Western Store in Dallas.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
A whiskey entrepreneur has agreed to sell the defunct Green Mountain College campus in Vermont to Florida evangelist Tommie Zito.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
They grew vegetables, had cattle, made whiskey, and sold a little tobacco.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
The so-called Whiskey Raccoon sells for $750, and the squirrels go for $450 each.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Primm Valley, Whiskey Pete’s and Buffalo Bill’s all hosted at one time the famed Bonnie and Clyde V-8 Ford riddled with more than 100 bullets in 1934.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
In the early 1790s the Whiskey Rebellion against federal taxation raised the specter of national disintegration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
By the time he was sent to a compound dubbed "Whiskey 108" on 12 April 2009, he had more than a decade of service and a Medal of Gallantry under his belt.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
“No. Whiskey Devil—he’s the head of the Justices—owes me a favor from a long time ago. It won’t cost that much.”
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman is best known for its whiskeys but also owns other spirits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
All whiskeys have what’s called a mash bill.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 27, 2023
For long, rum has been relegated to the bottom shelf of bar cabinets around the world with whiskeys, cognacs and gins taking prime slots.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2023
The local officials and their supporters downplayed the barrel tax’s impact on Kentucky distillers, pointing to the industry’s unprecedented growth as demand for American whiskeys surges.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
Husbands drinking their whiskeys stop in mid-sip, spotting this pink thing at the door.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
