Definitions for alcohol
ˈæl kəˌhɔl, -ˌhɒlal·co·hol

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alcohol, alcoholic drink, alcoholic beverage, intoxicant, inebriant(noun)

   a liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent

   "alcohol (or drink) ruined him"

2. alcohol(noun)

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

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alcohol(Noun)

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

2. alcohol(Noun)

   An intoxicating beverage made by the fermentation of sugar or sugar-containing material.

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Alcohol(noun)

   an impalpable powder

   Etymology: [Cf. F. alcool, formerly written alcohol, Sp. alcohol alcohol, antimony, galena, OSp. alcofol; all fr. Ar. al-kohl a powder of antimony or galena, to paint the eyebrows with. The name was afterwards applied, on account of the fineness of this powder, to highly rectified spirits, a signification unknown in Arabia. The Sp. word has both meanings. Cf. Alquifou.]

2. Alcohol(noun)

   the fluid essence or pure spirit obtained by distillation

   Etymology: [Cf. F. alcool, formerly written alcohol, Sp. alcohol alcohol, antimony, galena, OSp. alcofol; all fr. Ar. al-kohl a powder of antimony or galena, to paint the eyebrows with. The name was afterwards applied, on account of the fineness of this powder, to highly rectified spirits, a signification unknown in Arabia. The Sp. word has both meanings. Cf. Alquifou.]

3. Alcohol(noun)

   pure spirit of wine; pure or highly rectified spirit (called also ethyl alcohol); the spirituous or intoxicating element of fermented or distilled liquors, or more loosely a liquid containing it in considerable quantity. It is extracted by simple distillation from various vegetable juices and infusions of a saccharine nature, which have undergone vinous fermentation

   Etymology: [Cf. F. alcool, formerly written alcohol, Sp. alcohol alcohol, antimony, galena, OSp. alcofol; all fr. Ar. al-kohl a powder of antimony or galena, to paint the eyebrows with. The name was afterwards applied, on account of the fineness of this powder, to highly rectified spirits, a signification unknown in Arabia. The Sp. word has both meanings. Cf. Alquifou.]

4. Alcohol(noun)

   a class of compounds analogous to vinic alcohol in constitution. Chemically speaking, they are hydroxides of certain organic radicals; as, the radical ethyl forms common or ethyl alcohol (C2H5.OH); methyl forms methyl alcohol (CH3.OH) or wood spirit; amyl forms amyl alcohol (C5H11.OH) or fusel oil, etc

   Etymology: [Cf. F. alcool, formerly written alcohol, Sp. alcohol alcohol, antimony, galena, OSp. alcofol; all fr. Ar. al-kohl a powder of antimony or galena, to paint the eyebrows with. The name was afterwards applied, on account of the fineness of this powder, to highly rectified spirits, a signification unknown in Arabia. The Sp. word has both meanings. Cf. Alquifou.]

Freebase(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Alcohol

   In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxyl functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms. An important class of alcohols are the simple acyclic alcohols, the general formula for which is CnH2n+1OH. Of those, ethanol is the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, and in common speech the word alcohol refers specifically to ethanol. Other alcohols are usually described with a clarifying adjective, as in isopropyl alcohol or wood alcohol. The suffix -ol appears in the IUPAC chemical name of all substances where the hydroxyl group is the functional group with the highest priority; in substances where a higher priority group is present the prefix hydroxy- will appear in the IUPAC name. The suffix -ol in non-systematic names also typically indicates that the substance includes a hydroxyl functional group and, so, can be termed an alcohol. But many substances, particularly sugars contain hydroxyl functional groups without using the suffix.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Alcohol

   al′kō-hol, n. pure spirit, a liquid generated by the fermentation of sugar and other saccharine matter, and forming the intoxicating element of fermented liquors.—adj. Alcohol′ic, of or like alcohol.—n. Alcoholisā′tion.—v.t. Al′coholise, to convert into alcohol, or saturate with it: to rectify.—n. Al′coholism, a term employed to denote the symptoms of disease produced by alcoholic poisoning.—Absolute alcohol, alcohol entirely free from water. [Ar. al-koh'l—al, the, koh'l, fine powder of antimony used in the East to stain the eyelids.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Alcohol

   pure or highly rectified spirit obtained from fermented saccharine solutions by distillation, and the intoxicating principle of all spirituous liquors.

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ALCOHOL

   A liquid good for preserving almost everything except secrets.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'alcohol' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3275

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'alcohol' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3650

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'alcohol' in Nouns Frequency: #1366

How to pronounce alcohol?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say alcohol in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of alcohol in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of alcohol in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of alcohol in a Sentence

1. President Barack Obama:

   One of the most frustrating things that I hear is when people say -- who are opposed to any further laws -- 'Why don't you just enforce the laws that are on the books?' and those very same members of Congress then cut (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) budgets to make it impossible to enforce the law.

2. Though Biden:

   I'll bet there's not a family you know that doesn't have somebody in their family that had a drug problem or an alcohol problem, the honesty with which he stepped forward and talked about the problem.... It gave me hope reading it. I mean, it was like -- my boy's back. You know what I mean ?

3. Alyssa Dweck:

   I’ve heard of the practice of putting alcohol on a tampon and putting it into the vagina for advanced absorption and getting a buzz off of that, i would say that sounds like it would be horribly uncomfortable and can cause damage to the vaginal mucousso I definitely wouldn’t advise that.

4. Carl Gustav Jung:

   Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.

5. Taylor Jenson:

   The people, the food and the waves all outweigh alcohol.

Images & Illustrations of alcohol

Popularity rank by frequency of use