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bottle

Pronunciation: /ˈbɒt(ə)l/

Translate bottle | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of bottle

noun

  • 1a glass or plastic container with a narrow neck, used for storing drinks or other liquids: he opened the bottle of beer
  • the contents of a bottle:she managed to get through a bottle of wine
  • (the bottle) informal used in reference to the heavy drinking of alcohol:more women are taking to the bottle
  • a bottle fitted with a teat for giving milk or other drinks to babies and very young children.
  • a large metal cylinder holding liquefied gas.
  • 2 [mass noun] British informal the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous:I lost my bottle completely and ran

verb

  • 1 [with object] place (drinks or other liquid) in bottles for storage:the wine was bottled in 1997
  • British place (fruit or vegetables) in glass jars with other ingredients in order to preserve them: Angela bottled fruit and jam and chutneys
  • (usually as adjective bottled) store (gas) in a container in liquefied form: she set about connecting the bottled gas to the stove
  • 2 [with object] informal throw a glass bottle at (someone):he was bottled offstage at a club

Phrases

bottle and glass

British rhyming slang arse.

hit the bottle

informal start to drink alcohol heavily: his marriage broke up and he hit the bottle

in bottle

(of wine) having been aged for a specified number of years in its bottle:the wine can be drunk after eight years in bottle

Phrasal Verbs

bottle out

British informal lose one’s nerve and decide not to do something:the Minister has bottled out of real reforms

bottle something up

repress or conceal feelings over time:his anger and frustration had been bottled up for years

bottle someone/thing up

keep someone or something trapped or contained:he had to stay bottled up in New York

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French boteille, from medieval Latin butticula, diminutive of late Latin buttis 'cask, wineskin' (see butt4)

bottle in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bottle in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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