any alcoholic drink, esp spirits, or such drinks collectively any liquid substance, esp that in which food has been cooked a solution of a pure substance in water - in liquor ⇒
drunk; intoxicated
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
liq•uor /ˈlɪkɚ/USA pronunciation
n.
v. [~ + object (+ up)]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [uncountable]
- Winean alcoholic beverage that has undergone a process of heating, evaporating, and condensing back to a liquid, as brandy or whiskey, as distinguished from a fermented beverage, as wine or beer.
v. [~ + object (+ up)]
- Informal Termsto make (someone) drunk with liquor:They liquored him up.
liq•uor
(lik′ər or, for 3, lik′wôr),USA pronunciation n.
v.t.
v.i.
liq′uor•y, adj.
- Winea distilled or spirituous beverage, as brandy or whiskey, as distinguished from a fermented beverage, as wine or beer.
- any liquid substance, as broth from cooked meats or vegetables.
- Drugs[Pharm.]solution (def. 6).
- Chemistrya solution of a substance, esp. a concentrated one used in the industrial arts.
v.t.
- Informal Termsto furnish or ply with liquor to drink (often fol. by up).
v.i.
- Informal Termsto drink large quantities of liquor (often fol. by up).
- Latin liquōrem, accusative of liquor
- Old French (French liqueur)
- Latin: a liquid, origin, originally liquidity (liqu(ēre) to be liquid + -or -or1); replacing Middle English lic(o)ur
- 1175–1225
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged juice, drippings.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'hard liquor' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):