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alcohol

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Definition of alcohol

noun

[mass noun]

a colourless volatile flammable liquid which is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel: it is an offence to drive if you have more than 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood the use of petrol containing alcohol
- Alternative names: ethanol, ethyl alcohol; chemical formula: C₂H₅OH
drink containing alcohol:he has not taken alcohol in twenty-five years
[count noun] Chemistry any organic compound whose molecule contains one or more hydroxyl groups attached to a carbon atom: unpleasant stuff like formaldehyde is produced as alcohols burn polyvinyl alcohol

Origin:

mid 16th century: French (earlier form of alcool), or from medieval Latin, from Arabic al-kuḥl 'the kohl'. In early use the term referred to powders, specifically kohl, and especially those obtained by sublimation; later 'a distilled or rectified spirit' (mid 17th century)

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drink a large cold orange juice, not alcohol.

alcohol in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of alcohol in the US English dictionary

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