near beer

noun

Definition of near beer

: any of various malt liquors considered nonalcoholic because they contain less than a specified percentage of alcohol

Examples of near beer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web So off the two ran to Loxy’s den, where Loxy began to speed-read his handy-dandy cookbook about slicing and dicing sweetmeat and Tex Mex green beans and chugalugging them down with mai tais, Tia Marias, pale ale and near beer. — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Once upon a rhyme time: the tale of Chicken Licken," 6 July 2019 These are near beer compared to the photographic images. — Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, "The face of 19th-century America," 5 Apr. 2018 But near beer should, in time, be good for the industry’s health. — Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, "Alcohol-Free Beer Could Give Brewers a Buzz," 4 Aug. 2017

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