bottle

noun, often attributive bot·tle \ ˈbä-tᵊl \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Definition of bottle

1 a : a rigid or semirigid container typically of glass or plastic having a comparatively narrow neck or mouth and usually no handle

b : a usually bottle-shaped container made of skin for storing a liquid

2 : the quantity held by a bottle

3 a : intoxicating drink : the practice of drinking

slipped deeper and deeper into the bottle
—Anne Bernays

b : liquid food (such as milk) used in place of mother's milk

4 slang, British : mettle, courage

—

bottleful

play \-ˌfu̇l\ noun

See bottle defined for English-language learners

See bottle defined for kids

Examples of bottle in a Sentence

We drank a bottle of wine.
He says he's lost too many years to the bottle, and that he's giving up alcohol.
Her struggles with the bottle affected her entire family.
Has the baby finished her bottle yet?
raised on a bottle instead of breast milk

Recent Examples of bottle from the Web

Beer is not supposed to be nectar for the upper middle class, or for high-living millennials who can’t pay the rent after paying $35 for six bottles of some Dogfish Head experiment.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Paul Daugherty's Morning Line: Cincinnati Reds need the off day, and other MLB thoughts," 12 July 2018
With the exception of a bottle of wine or a vase of flowers (flowers should optimally be sent in advance), a hostess gift would generally be handed to the host, wrapped, or in a pretty gift bag, with a gift tag or card attached.

— Southern Living, "The Etiquette of Giving: Your Gift Questions Answered," 12 July 2018
Neighborhood children spent their nickels on bottles of Yoo-hoo.

— tim prudente, baltimoresun.com, "Collapse: The rise and deadly fall of a Baltimore rowhouse," 12 July 2018
In a Softsoap television commercial from 1982, bars of soap from Camay, Ivory, Dial and Dove are stacked upon a royal blue sink counter and shown eroding alongside a pristine bottle of Softsoap.

— tyler watamanuk, New York Times, "When Did Soap, Once Simple, Get So Complicated?," 11 July 2018
The couple soon showed off matching cloud tattoos on the middle fingers of their left hands, shaped similarly to the bottle of the fragrance.

— rosemary donahue, Allure, "Every Tattoo Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson Have Reportedly Gotten During Their Relationship," 8 July 2018
Almost all the ice creams and milkshakes can be made without reaching for a bottle.

— maggie menderski, The Courier-Journal, "Liquor-infused ice cream shop (with ties to Ehrler's!) opens downtown," 6 July 2018
The home has storage space for more than 50 bottles of wine, several refrigerators and a pool.

— robert gundran, azcentral, "Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, retired Detroit Lion buy Paradise Valley houses," 2 July 2018
The days when Sisi enjoyed such widespread popularity that his face was stamped on such products as bottles of cologne and women’s underwear are long gone.

— rachel scheier, latimes.com, "Five years after the noisy ouster of an Islamist president, Egyptians are still frustrated — but quiet," 30 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bottle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of bottle

Middle English botel, from Old French botele, from Medieval Latin butticula, diminutive of Late Latin buttis cask

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

Other Alcoholic Beverage Terms

finish, gimlet, mull, sake, setup, sommelier, syllabub, vintner, wassail

bottle

verb

Definition of bottle

bottled; bottling play \ˈbä-tᵊl-iŋ, ˈbät-liŋ\

transitive verb

1 a : to confine as if in a bottle : restrain —usually used with up

bottling up their anger

b : to put or keep in a position or situation that makes free activity, progress, or escape difficult or impossible —usually used with up

bottle up legislation in committee

2 : to put into or as if into a bottle

wished she could bottle their energy

—

bottler

play \ˈbä-tᵊl-ər, ˈbät-lər\ noun

See bottle defined for English-language learners

Examples of bottle in a Sentence

The restaurant bottles its own ginger ale.
Near the top of the mountain, the climbers relied on bottled oxygen to breathe.

Recent Examples of bottle from the Web

The company’s beverage sales in North America have been falling since the third quarter of 2017, ratcheting up pressure on the company to consider spinning off its bottling operations or even splitting off its beverage business entirely.

— allison prang, WSJ, "PepsiCo Reports Slowing Decline in Beverage Sales," 10 July 2018
Lance Stephenson and Cory Joseph couldn’t get the job done when they were given open shots during key moments while Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic were bottled up.

— j. michael, Indianapolis Star, "Insider: 5 reasonable free-agent targets for Pacers as roster will begin to take shape," 29 June 2018
Lionel Messi has no goals or assists and has been bottled up by Iceland and Croatia, despite having 12 total shots in the two matches.

— scooby axson, SI.com, "How to Watch Nigeria vs. Argentina: World Cup Live Stream, TV Channel," 26 June 2018
To top everything off, M.A.C and Starrr bottled up two lip glosses in a pale peach shade (Fashion Punch) and a neutral pink (Cream Pie) — both would look best on medium to light skin tones.

— shannon barbour, The Cut, "Who’s Ready for ‘Sandy Crotch’ Eye Shadow?," 31 May 2018
Hollis Callaway is the entrepreneur who started Montane by bottling the water of Blue Springs which flows on family land (Callaway family land as in Callaway Gardens).

— AJC.com, "Buy This: 3 drinks to keep you hydrated and healthy," 24 Feb. 2018
What this means is that the decision to bottle up the agenda of the next Democratic president is being made right now, in private, in a secret deal between Schumer and Senate Republicans.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "Chuck Schumer Is Secretly Sabotaging the Next Democratic President," 28 June 2018
The latter, advantaged in Congress by the seniority system, worked with Republicans to bottle up legislative proposals for civil rights and labor reform.

— sam rosenfeld, Vox, "The Democratic Party is moving steadily leftward. So why does the left still distrust it?," 22 June 2018
The pair rented 800 square feet in a dairy barn and, without any employees, took on everything from picking grapes to bottling.

— matt jaffe, SFChronicle.com, "Wine maverick Jim Clendenen shares favorite Santa Barbara County spots," 15 June 2018

First Known Use of bottle

1594

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

BOTTLE Defined for English Language Learners

bottle

noun

Definition of bottle for English Language Learners

: a glass or plastic container that has a narrow neck and usually has no handle
: the amount contained in a bottle
the bottle : alcoholic drink

bottle

verb

Definition of bottle for English Language Learners

: to put (something) into a bottle so that it can be sold or so that it is easier to use
: to put (fruit or vegetables) in a jar using a special procedure that preserves them

BOTTLE Defined for Kids

bottle

noun bot·tle \ ˈbä-tᵊl \

Definition of bottle for Students

1 : a container (as of glass or plastic) usually having a narrow neck and mouth and no handle

2 : the quantity held by a bottle I drank the whole bottle.

bottle

verb

Definition of bottle for Students

bottled; bottling

1 : to put into a bottle

2 : to shut up as if in a bottle

She bottles up her feelings.

Medical Dictionary

bottle

noun, often attributive bot·tle \ ˈbät-ᵊl \

medical Definition of bottle

1 : a rigid or semirigid container typically of glass or plastic having a comparatively narrow neck or mouth and usually no handle — see wash bottle

2 : liquid food usually consisting of milk and supplements that is fed from a bottle (as to an infant) in place of mother's milk

Learn More about bottle

See words that rhyme with bottle Spanish Central: Translation of bottle Nglish: Translation of bottle for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of bottle for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about bottle

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bottle

Definition of bottle

bottleful

Examples of bottle in a Sentence

Recent Examples of bottle from the Web

Origin and Etymology of bottle

Other Alcoholic Beverage Terms

bottle

Definition of bottle

bottler

Examples of bottle in a Sentence

Recent Examples of bottle from the Web

First Known Use of bottle

BOTTLE Defined for English Language Learners

bottle

Definition of bottle for English Language Learners

bottle

Definition of bottle for English Language Learners

BOTTLE Defined for Kids

bottle

Definition of bottle for Students

bottle

Definition of bottle for Students

Medical Dictionary

bottle

medical Definition of bottle

Learn More about bottle

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