DRINKING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does drinking mean? 

• DRINKING (noun)
  The noun DRINKING has 2 senses:

1. the act of consuming liquids

2. the act of drinking alcoholic beverages to excess

  Familiarity information: DRINKING used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DRINKING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of consuming liquids

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

drinking; imbibing; imbibition

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

consumption; ingestion; intake; uptake (the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating))

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

gulping; guzzling; swilling (the drinking of large mouthfuls rapidly)

potation (the act of drinking (especially an alcoholic drink))

Derivation:

drink (take in liquids)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of drinking alcoholic beverages to excess

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

boozing; crapulence; drink; drinking; drunkenness

Context example:

drink was his downfall

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

intemperance; intemperateness (consumption of alcoholic drinks)

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

drinking bout (a long period of drinking)

Derivation:

drink (consume alcohol)

drink (drink excessive amounts of alcohol; be an alcoholic)

 Context examples 

Lady Brackenstall actually saw the three men drinking, did she not?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Recently he has been drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when I came upstairs there was the key in the door.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The last six months that she was here she would speak of nothing but his drinking and his ways.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Drinking during pregnancy can harm your baby.

(Alcoholism, NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

At my suggestion, however, he gave up smoking and drinking; though why such a magnificent animal as he should have headaches at all puzzles me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Arsenic poisoning from drinking contaminated groundwater affects about 140 million people in 50 countries and an estimated 43,000 people die of it annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

(Watermelon rind a cheap filter for arsenic in groundwater, SciDev.Net)

He was eating as well as drinking, and seemed to eat with a hungry appetite.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Besides drinking plenty of fluids and getting plenty of rest, you may want to take medicines.

(Cold and Cough Medicines, Food and Drug Administration)

To determine whether these might play a role in chronic diseases, the team fed mice low levels of 2 commonly used emulsifiers, carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate-80, in drinking water or in food.

(Food Additives Alter Gut Microbes, Cause Diseases in Mice, NIH)

Here they are:—Will not mention "drinking."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)