ALCOHOL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does alcohol mean? 

• ALCOHOL (noun)
  The noun ALCOHOL has 2 senses:

1. a liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent

2. any of a series of volatile hydroxyl compounds that are made from hydrocarbons by distillation

  Familiarity information: ALCOHOL used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ALCOHOL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

alcohol; alcoholic beverage; alcoholic drink; inebriant; intoxicant

Context example:

alcohol (or drink) ruined him

Hypernyms ("alcohol" is a kind of...):

beverage; drink; drinkable; potable (any liquid suitable for drinking)

drug of abuse; street drug (a drug that is taken for nonmedicinal reasons (usually for mind-altering effects); drug abuse can lead to physical and mental damage and (with some substances) dependence and addiction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "alcohol"):

home brew; homebrew (an alcoholic beverage (especially beer) made at home)

koumiss; kumis (an alcoholic beverage made from fermented mare's milk; made originally by nomads of central Asia)

slug (an amount of an alcoholic drink (usually liquor) that is poured or gulped)

rotgut (any alcoholic beverage of inferior quality)

perry (a fermented and often effervescent beverage made from juice of pears; similar in taste to hard cider)

hard cider (alcoholic drink from fermented cider; 'cider' and 'cyder' are European (especially British) usages for the fermented beverage)

mixed drink (made of two or more ingredients)

cordial; liqueur (strong highly flavored sweet liquor usually drunk after a meal)

pulque (fermented Mexican drink from juice of various agave plants especially the maguey)

ethyl alcohol; neutral spirits (nonflavored alcohol of 95 percent or 190 proof used for blending with straight whiskies and in making gin and liqueurs)

vino; wine (fermented juice (of grapes especially))

nipa (made from sap of the Australasian nipa palm)

rice beer; sake; saki (Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice; usually served hot)

brew; brewage (drink made by steeping and boiling and fermenting rather than distilling)

aperitif (alcoholic beverage taken before a meal as an appetizer)

kava; kavakava (an alcoholic drink made from the aromatic roots of the kava shrub)

hooch; hootch (an illicitly distilled (and usually inferior) alcoholic liquor)

proof spirit (a mixture containing half alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit)

booze; hard drink; hard liquor; John Barleycorn; liquor; spirits; strong drink (an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented)

Derivation:

alcoholic (characteristic of or containing alcohol)

alcoholize (make alcoholic, as by fermenting)

alcoholize (treat or infuse with alcohol)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of a series of volatile hydroxyl compounds that are made from hydrocarbons by distillation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("alcohol" is a kind of...):

liquid (a substance that is liquid at room temperature and pressure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "alcohol"):

steroid alcohol; sterol (any of a group of natural steroid alcohols derived from plants or animals; they are waxy insoluble substances)

propanol; propyl alcohol (a clear colorless volatile liquid (alcohol) used as a solvent and antiseptic)

1-dodecanol; lauryl alcohol (a colorless insoluble solid alcohol used to make detergents and pharmaceuticals)

glycerin; glycerine; glycerol (a sweet syrupy trihydroxy alcohol obtained by saponification of fats and oils)

dihydric alcohol; diol; glycol (any of a class of alcohols having 2 hydroxyl groups in each molecule)

cyclohexanol (a colorless oily alcohol that smells like camphor)

butanol; butyl alcohol (a flammable alcohol derived from butanes and used for solvents)

amyl alcohol (a mixture of 2 or more isomeric alcohols; used as a solvent and in organic synthesis)

allyl alcohol; propenyl alcohol (an unsaturated primary alcohol present in wood spirit; use to make resins and plasticizers and pharmaceuticals)

isopropanol; isopropyl alcohol (alcohol used as antifreeze or a solvent)

ethanol; ethyl alcohol; fermentation alcohol; grain alcohol (the intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors; used pure or denatured as a solvent or in medicines and colognes and cleaning solutions and rocket fuel; proposed as a renewable clean-burning additive to gasoline)

methanol; methyl alcohol; wood alcohol; wood spirit (a light volatile flammable poisonous liquid alcohol; used as an antifreeze and solvent and fuel and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol)

Derivation:

alcoholic (characteristic of or containing alcohol)

 Context examples 

Alcohol dependence affects physical and mental health, and can cause problems with family, friends, and work.

(Alcohol dependence, NCI Dictionary)

A type of alcohol used to make antifreeze, pesticides, windshield wiper fluid, paint thinner, certain types of fuel, and other substances.

(Methanol, NCI Dictionary)

Mucoadhesive oral wound rinse consists of purified water, glycerin, benzyl alcohol, sodium saccharin, carbomer homopolymer A, potassium hydroxide, citric acid, polysorbate 60 and phosphoric acid.

(Mucoadhesive Oral Wound Rinse, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called methanol and wood alcohol.

(Methyl alcohol, NCI Dictionary)

This protein plays a role in alcohol oxidation.

(Alcohol Dehydrogenase 4, NCI Thesaurus)

Alcohols are classified according to the position of the carbon atom with the attached hydroxyl group (i.e. primary alcohols are alcohols with the OH group attached to the primary carbon atom, C1).

(Alcohol [Chemical Class], NCI Thesaurus)

If you are like many Americans, you drink alcohol at least occasionally.

(Alcohol, NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

Alcohol contains a carbon atom attached to a hydroxyl group (a molecule made of an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom).

(Alcohol, NCI Dictionary)

An injection of ethanol (alcohol) through the skin directly into a tumor to kill cancer cells.

(Alcohol ablation, NCI Dictionary)

Consumption of liquids containing ethanol, including the behaviors associated with drinking the alcohol.

(Alcohol Consumption, NCI Thesaurus)