I. ˈdriŋk verb
( drank ˈdraŋk, -aiŋk ; or dialect drunk ˈdrəŋk ; or nonstandard drinked ˈdriŋ(k)t ; drunk or drank or nonstandard drinked or archaic drunk·en ˈdrəŋkən sometimes -k ə ŋ ; drinking ; drinks )
Etymology: Middle English drinken, from Old English drincan; akin to Old High German trinkan to drink, Old Norse drekka, Gothic drinkan
transitive verb
1.
a. : swallow , imbibe
drink liquid
don't sip it … but drink it like the divine draught it is — Margery Allingham
other animals and birds stand by to drink its blood — Interpreter's Bible
not a drop left. Who drank it up
hurry, child, drink it down so that we can start
ordered a Scotch and drank if off — Polly Adler
b. : to take in or suck up : absorb
drink up moisture
the hot surface of the porous rock drank water like a sponge
broadly : to take in (something intangible) or cause to vanish in a way suggestive of a liquid being swallowed
drinking the thin sharp air
atmospheric pressure then pushes air in, and your lungs can drink their fill — A.C.Fisher
drank in eagerly the latest version of the news
c. obsolete : smoke
drink tobacco
2. : to salute and wish health and honor to (a person) or success to (some prospect or wish) or to give or join in (a toast) or give a toast to (another's health) by raising and then drinking from a vessel
will you drink our good luck
3.
a. : to spend in or expend or waste on consumption of alcoholic beverages — often used with away
they drank the hours away
a son-in-law who'd hit her and take her pension off her and drink it to the last penny — Ruth Park
b. : to bring to a specified state by taking drink
don't drink that fountain dry
had drunk himself into the poorhouse or the grave — Ellen Glasgow
how we love the unexpected turn, like drinking the devil under the table — Coulton Waugh
4. : to take into one's mind or consciousness pleasurably through one or more of the senses — usually used with in
I just wanted to drink in all those monumental buildings, dynamic streets full of hurrying people — Dong Kingman
while his ears drank in the wonderful story of the great mare — Gerald Beaumont
young men passed his door, drank the enchantments of his conversation — Van Wyck Brooks
as I walked along the river drinking in its beauty my soul expanded — Alexander MacDonald
5. archaic : to accommodate with drink by way of refreshment
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to take liquid into the mouth for swallowing
we saw baby elephants drinking from their mothers — Stuart Cloete
b. : to receive into one's mind or consciousness a portion of something refreshing or pleasurable
a desire to seek this inspiration at its source and drink from the living waters — V.L.Parrington
Ben Franklin who drank deep from the stream in Europe and then democratized his knowledge — Roger Burlingame
students can hardly be blamed for drinking deep of the culture which surrounds them — L.R.Ward
2. : to partake of alcoholic beverages especially habitually
he drinks but does not smoke
specifically : to indulge in alcoholic beverages with disagreeable effect
to say that a man drinks means that he drinks too much — Joyce Cary
began to drink in childhood and was an alcoholic by the time he was 18 — Times Literary Supplement
obvious that he had been drinking — Louis Auchincloss
3. : to make or join in a toast
drink to the prosperity of the newest state
4. obsolete : taste
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English drink, drinke, from Old English drinc, drinca, from drincan, v.
1.
a. : liquid suitable for swallowing by man or beast especially to quench thirst or to provide nourishment or refreshment
I was thirsty and you gave me drink — Mt 25:35 (Revised Standard Version)
natives satisfied my demands for food and drink
the only available drink was the milk of coconuts
for centuries before a very light beer was the common drink — G.E.Fussell
b. archaic : liquid taken in or absorbed (as by a plant)
c. : a source of mental and emotional refreshment or stimulation
it was meat and drink to him to be the guardian of a secret — John Buchan
2.
a. : any particular natural or prepared usually agreeable liquid for swallowing : beverage , potable , brew , liquor
able to make a palatable drink from seawater
a fermented drink made of water and honey
my favorite among the carbonated soft drinks is ginger ale
b. : alcoholic liquor
excessive indulgence in drink and tobacco — A.A.Bogomolets
a drink -sodden derelict
we speak of drink as if it were synonymous with alcoholic beverages and use such phrases as the drink traffic — O.A.Mendelsohn
3. : a draft or portion of liquid (as water or a prepared beverage) taken or to be taken by or served to an individual at one time
taking a long drink from the spring
it requires a barium drink , fluoroscopic examination, and several radiographs — X Rays & You
give the dog a drink of water
the plant needs a drink
4.
a. : the consuming of or habit of consuming alcoholic beverages liberally or to excess
that the old doctor is befuddled with drink all the time — Ellen Glasgow
drink will be his ruination
he took to drink when his business failed
her didos will drive me to drink
b. Britain : a convivial get-together : drunk , spree
5. : a sizable body of water or a broad stream
slipped off the rock and into the drink
especially : ocean
my regiment embarked, leaving me on this side of the drink
off West Palm Beach, Florida, an air force crash boat pulled a pilot from the drink — Time
burst into flames and went headlong into the drink — J.S.Childers
•
- in drink