BEER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does beer mean? 

• BEER (noun)
  The noun BEER has 1 sense:

1. a general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops

  Familiarity information: BEER used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

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

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

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

draft beer; draught beer (beer drawn from a keg)

suds (a dysphemism for beer (especially for lager that effervesces))

lager; lager beer (a general term for beer made with bottom fermenting yeast (usually by decoction mashing); originally it was brewed in March or April and matured until September)

ale (a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the United States an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume)

Derivation:

beery (smelling of beer)

 Context examples 

If I get Hans, and we have a child, and he grows big, and has to draw beer here, the pick-axe will fall on his head and kill him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

This equates to around six pints of beer or six glasses of wine a week.

(Drinking more than five pints a week could shorten your life, University of Cambridge)

They are weak minded, and the established impresses itself upon them as easily as the name of the brewery is impressed on a beer bottle.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But one morning—I forget exactly the day—but perhaps it was the Tuesday or Wednesday before that evening, he wanted to make a memorandum in his pocket-book; it was about spruce-beer.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The first group consumed around two and a half pints of beer followed by four large glasses of wine.

(Wine before beer, or beer before wine? Either way, you’ll be hungover, University of Cambridge)

Beer for the lads of the forest, mead for the gleeman, strong waters for the tinker, and wine for the rest.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had eight thousand from him at a sitting. ‘I shall drink your beer in future, Mr. Brewer,’ said I. ‘Every blackguard in London does,’ said he.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Nitrosamines are also found in many foods, including fish, beer, fried foods, and meats.

(Nitrosamine, NCI Dictionary)

L. brevis is non pathogenic but may be a concern for brewers due to its beer and wine spoilage ability.

(Lactobacillus brevis, NCI Thesaurus)

A chemical substance found in drinks such as beer, wine, and liquor.

(Alcohol, NCI Dictionary)