booze

[booz] /buz/

noun

any alcoholic beverage; whiskey.

a drinking bout or spree.

verb (used without object), boozed, boozing.

to drink alcohol, especially to excess:

He continued to booze until his health finally gave out.

Idioms

booze it up, to drink heavily and persistently.

Origin

1610-20; respelling of bouse², reflecting one of its pronunciation variants

Related forms

boozer, noun

Examples from the web for booze

Bootleggers smuggled legit booze, but could also get pretty creative in concocting home-brewed liquor.
Early happy hour is pretty standard across the board, typically with deep discounts on food and booze.
Even rats with low preference for booze drank significantly less after treatment.
He doesn't talk much, and anesthetizes any feelings with copious amounts of booze.
They told him to cut out coffee and booze, and to stop worrying.
Times may be tough, but that doesn't mean you have to resort to off-brand booze.
The desserts really seemed to be afterthoughts, detractors from the actual main attraction: the booze.
People found ways to get around the ban on booze and whole illegal industries flourished.
The boys' friendship almost falls apart under the strain of arriving at the proper gathering with an armful of booze.
Still, nothing on the menu is unappetizing, and all of it soaks up the booze.

British Dictionary definitions for booze

booze

/buːz/

noun

alcoholic drink

a drinking bout or party

verb

(usually intransitive) to drink (alcohol), esp in excess

Derived Forms

boozed, adjective
boozing, noun

Word Origin

C13: from Middle Dutch būsen

Word Origin and History for booze

by 1821, perhaps 1714; probably originally as a verb, "to drink a lot" (1768), variant of Middle English bouse (c.1300), from Middle Dutch busen "to drink heavily," related to Middle High German bus (intransitive) "to swell, inflate," of unknown origin. The noun reinforced by name of Philadelphia distiller E.G. Booze. Johnson's dictionary has rambooze "A drink made of wine, ale, eggs and sugar in winter time; or of wine, milk, sugar and rose-water in the summer time." In New Zealand from c.World War II, a drinking binge was a boozeroo.

Slang definitions & phrases for booze

booze

noun

Any alcoholic drink, esp whiskey and other spirits (1880s+)

verb

To drink alcoholic beverages, esp to drink whiskey heavily (1760s+)

Related Terms

hit the bottle

[fr Middle English and dialect bowse (pronounced like booze), ''drink, carouse,'' reinforced by the name of a 19thcentury Philadelphia distiller, E G Booze]