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alcohol

noun

Simple meaning

Beverages containing ethanol.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

alkuhhahl

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IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈælkəhɑl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. uncountable

    Beverages containing ethanol, collectively.

  2. organic chemistrycountable

    Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).

  3. pharmacologycolloquial

    Ethanol.

  4. organic chemistrycountable

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

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

More ways to use alcohol

  • “Alcohol (or drink) ruined him.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

alcohol abuseethyl alcoholabsolute alcoholmethyl alcoholalcohol usealcohol consumptionblood alcoholcent alcohol

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • alcoholicnounDerived noun

    A person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually.

  • alcoholismnounDerived noun · specialist

    Habitual intoxication.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • alcohol amnestic disordernounCompound term

    Dementia observed during the last stages of severe chronic alcoholism.

  • alcohol groupnounCompound term

    The chemical group -OH.

  • alcohol-in-glass thermometernounCompound term

    Thermometer consisting of a glass capillary tube marked with degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit and containing alcohol which rises or falls as it expands or contracts with changes in temperature.

  • alcohol radicalnounCompound term

    The chemical group -OH.

  • alcohol thermometernounCompound term

    Thermometer consisting of a glass capillary tube marked with degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit and containing alcohol which rises or falls as it expands or contracts with changes in temperature.

  • alcohol abusenounCompound term

    Excessive use of alcohol and alcoholic drinks.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • alcoholic abusenounRelated term

    Excessive use of alcohol and alcoholic drinks.

  • alcoholic beveragenounRelated term

    A liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent.

  • alcoholic drinknounRelated term

    A liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent.

  • alcoholism abusenounRelated term

    Excessive use of alcohol and alcoholic drinks.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: beverages containing ethanol or collectively

alcoholic beverage

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.