King James Bible Dictionary

The drinks of the Hebrews were water, wine, "strong drink," and vinegar. Their drinking vessels were the cup, goblet or "basin," the "cruse" or pitcher, and the saucer.

To drink water by measure (Ezekiel 4:11), and to buy water to drink (Lamentations 5:4), denote great scarcity. To drink blood means to be satiated with slaughter.

The Jews carefully strained their drinks through a sieve, through fear of violating the law of Leviticus 11:20, 23, 41, 42. (See Matthew 23:24. "Strain at" should be "strain out.")

DRINK, verb intransitive preterit tense and participle passive drank. Old preterit tense And participle passive drunk; participle passive Drunken. [G. drink and drench are radically the same word, and probably drown. We observe that n is not radical.]

1. To swallow liquor, for quenching thirst or other purpose; as, to drink of the brook.

Ye shall indeed drink of my cup. Matthew 20:22.

2. To take spirituous liquors to excess; to be intemperate in the use of spirituous liquors; to be a habitual drunkard.

3. To feast; to be entertained with liquors.

To drink to,

1. To salute in drinking; to invite to drink by drinking first; as, I drink to you grace.

2. To wish well to, in the act of taking the cup.

DRINK, verb transitive

1. To swallow, as liquids; to receive, as a fluid, into the stomach; as, to drink water or wine.

2. To suck in; to absorb; to imbibe.

And let the purple violets drink the stream.

3. To take in by any inlet; to hear; to see; as, to drink words or the voice.

I drink delicious poison from thy eye.

4. To take in air; to inhale.

To drink down, is to act on by drinking; to reduce or subdue; as, to drink down unkindness.

To drink off, to drink the whole at a draught; as, to drink off a cup of cordial.

To drink in, to absorb; to take or receive into any inlet.

To drink up, to drink the whole.

To drink health, or to the health, a customary civility in which a person at taking a glass or cup, expresses his respect or kind wishes for another.

DRINK, noun Liquor to be swallowed; any fluid to be taken into the stomach, for quenching thirst, or for medicinal purposes; as water, wine, beer, cider, decoctions, etc.

See Offering
Offering

See Abstinence, Total; Drunkard; Drunkenness; Wine
Abstinence, Total; Drunkard; Drunkenness; Wine

(Heb. shekar'), an intoxicating liquor (Judges 13:4; Luke 1:15; Isaiah 5:11; Micah 2:11) distilled from corn, honey, or dates. The effects of the use of strong drink are referred to in Psalms 107:27; Isaiah 24:20; 49:26; 51:17-22. Its use prohibited, Proverbs 20:1. (See WINE.)

The Hebrew term shecar , in its etymological sense, applies to any beverage that had intoxicating qualities. With regard to the application of the term in later times we have the explicit statement of Jerome, as well as other sources of information, from which we may state the that following beverages were known to the Jews:

1. Beer , which was largely consumed in Egypt under the name of zythus , and was thence introduced into Palestine. It was made of barley; certain herbs, such as lupine and skirret, were used as substitutes for hops.
2. Cider , which is noticed in the Mishna as apple wine.
3. Honey wine , of which there were two sorts, one consisting of a mixture of wine, honey and pepper; the other a decoction of the juice of the grape, termed debash (honey) by the Hebrews, and dibs by the modern Syrians.
4. Date wine , which was also manufactured in Egypt. It was made by mashing the fruit in water in certain proportions.
5. Various other fruits and vegetables are enumerated by Pliny as supplying materials for factitious or home-made wine, such as figs, millet, the carob fruit, etc. It is not improbable that the Hebrews applied raisins to this purpose in the simple manner followed by the Arabians, viz., by putting them in jars of water and burying them in the ground until fermentation took place.

DRINKABLE, adjective That may be drank; fit or suitable for drink; potable.

DRINKER, noun One who drinks, particularly one who practices drinking spirituous liquors to excess; a drunkard; a tipler.

DRINKING, participle present tense Swallowing liquor; sucking in; absorbing.

DRINKING, noun

1. The act of swallowing liquors, or of absorbing.

2. The practice of drinking to excess. We say, a man is given to drinking

DRINKING-HORN, noun A horn cup, such as our rude ancestors used.

DRINKING-HOUSE, noun A house frequented by tiplers; an alehouse.

DRINKLESS, adjective Destitute of drink.

DRINK-MONEY, noun Money given to buy liquor for drink.

Consisted of wine (Numbers 15:5; Hosea 9:4) poured around the altar (Exodus 30:9). Joined with meat-offerings (Numbers 6:15, 17; 2 Kings 16:13; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:14), presented daily (Exodus 29:40), on the Sabbath (Numbers 28:9), and on feast-days (28:14). One-fourth of an hin of wine was required for one lamb, one-third for a ram, and one-half for a bullock (Numbers 15:5; 28:7, 14). "Drink offerings of blood" (Psalms 16:4) is used in allusion to the heathen practice of mingling the blood of animals sacrificed with wine or water, and pouring out the mixture in the worship of the gods, and the idea conveyed is that the psalmist would not partake of the abominations of the heathen.