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, inebriantnoun

   a liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent

   "alcohol (or drink) ruined him"

2. alcoholnoun

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

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alcoholnoun

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

2. alcoholnoun

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

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ALCOHOLnoun

   An Arabick term used by chymists for a high rectified dephlegmated spirit of wine, or for any thing reduced into an impalpable powder. John Quincy

   If the same salt shall be reduced into alcohol, as the chymists speak, or an impalpable powder, the particles and intercepted spaces will be extremely lessened. Boyle.

   Sal volatile oleosum will coagulate the serum on account of the alcahol, or rectified spirit which it contains. Arbuthnot.

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

1. Alcoholnoun

   an impalpable powder

2. Alcoholnoun

   the fluid essence or pure spirit obtained by distillation

3. Alcoholnoun

   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

4. Alcoholnoun

   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

5. 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.

Matched Categories

1. • Liquid

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

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Timothy Naimi:

   That was the second major finding of the study, stronger policies were similarly protective against car crash deaths that involved alcohol at blood alcohol limits below 0.08 %.

2. Neal Freedman:

   Drinking tea at a lower temperature should not be considered as a replacement for smoking cessation and limiting alcohol intake, nevertheless, accumulating data suggest that drinking very hot tea may also increase the risk of esophageal cancer, and it may be prudent for people who drink very hot beverages to wait until it cools down a bit before drinking, whether or not they also smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol.

3. Andrew Holzman:

   Alcohol causes your blood vessels to relax.

4. Cheryl Tan:

   It's really important to remember that there is no safe amount, no safe time and no safe type of alcohol to drink during pregnancy.

5. Nehla Kheder:

   Fryal Abbo, with her teen daughter, Najma, mourns the death of Fryal Abbo. Fryal Abbo was killed for selling alcohol in a Christian shop two days before Christmas last year. ( Hollie McKay. com) Others at Camp Virgin Mary tell similar stories. Ena Kromy, 77, clutched a cross and a photograph of Ena Kromy son as Ena Kromy sat in the sunshine. Ena Kromy, too, was dressed all in black.Her son was shot in the head at a restaurant where he worked eight years ago. The restaurant, too, was targeted because it served alcohol. Ena Kromy said the shock of his death killed Fryal Abbo a few months later.My son died from his head, and Fryal Abbo from his heart, Ena Kromy sobbed. Recently, Kromypackedup and returned toMosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, after itwas recaptured from ISIS militants.Butshe discovered her househad been destroyed in the fighting.So she returned to Camp Virgin Mary, with Camp Virgin Mary mixture of lingering fear and desperation to flee Iraq altogether. The government tells us to go back, but I will never go back to that home.

Popularity rank by frequency of use