booze
/buːz
/informal
noun [mass noun]
Alcoholic drink: I wonder where he’s hidden his booze...
- At least the club is starting at the right point—by focussing on the booze drinking issue.
- There were dozens of empty booze bottles and beer cans lying around on the beach and on the walkway.
- They do have lager there—there's a big bottled beer stall of foreign booze.
Synonyms
alcohol, alcoholic drink, liquor, intoxicating liquor, drink, strong drink, spirits, intoxicants
informal grog, firewater, gut-rot, rotgut, mother's milk, tipple, the hard stuff, the demon drink, the bottle, Dutch courage, John Barleycorn, hooch, moonshine
British informal wallop, bevvy
Northern English & Irish informal sup
North American informal juice, the sauce
verb [no object]
Drink alcohol, especially in large quantities: I expect he’s boozing (as noun boozing) Michael is trying to quit boozing...
- They must have been boozing; it's an absolute disgrace.
- Bath Street is turning out to be Glasgow's premier thoroughfare for boozing, schmoozing and general tomfoolery.
- He was perfect company and we had a great time schmoozing and boozing.
Synonyms
drink, have a drink, drink alcohol, indulge, tipple, imbibe, swill
informal hit the bottle, take to the bottle, crack a bottle, knock a few back
British informal bevvy
North American informal bend one's elbow
archaic wassail, tope
Origin
Middle English bouse, from Middle Dutch būsen 'drink to excess'. The spelling booze dates from the 18th century.
People have been boozing for a long time. The spelling booze dates from the 18th century, but as bouse the word entered English in the 13th century, probably from Dutch. We have been going to the boozer, or pub, since the 1890s.