drink
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To consume through the mouth.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dringkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdɹɪŋk
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
ambitransitive
To consume (a liquid) through the mouth.
ambitransitive
Consume alcohol
“We were up drinking all night.”
transitivemetonymic
To consume the liquid contained within (a bottle, glass, etc.).
intransitive
To consume alcoholic beverages.
transitive
To take in (a liquid), in any manner; to suck up; to absorb; to imbibe.
“The patient must drink several liters each day.”
transitive
To take in; to receive within one, through the senses; to inhale; to hear; to see.
noun
A single serving of a beverage
“I asked for a hot drink.”
A (served) alcoholic beverage.
A type of beverage (usually mixed).
The action of drinking, especially with the verbs take or have.
The act of drinking alcoholic beverages to excess
Alcoholic beverages in general.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (ambitransitive) To consume (a liquid) through the mouth.
Used this way, drink is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- booze , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Consumeverb
“We were up drinking all night.”
Takeverb
“The patient must drink several liters each day.”
Single / servednoun
“I asked for a hot drink.”
More ways to use drink
- “The patient must drink several liters each day.”verb
- “We were up drinking all night.”verb
- “I asked for a hot drink.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of consuming liquids.
A person who drinks liquids.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The age at which is legal for a person to buy alcoholic beverages.
A long period of drinking.
A beverage made from cocoa powder and milk and sugar.
A public fountain to provide a jet of drinking water.
A container made of glass for holding liquids while drinking.
A song celebrating the joys of drinking.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to consume (a liquid) through the mouth
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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.