quaff

1 of 2

verb

quaffed; quaffing; quaffs

transitive + intransitive

: to drink (a usually alcoholic beverage) heartily or copiously
At Fort William, goods were exchanged, bills were tallied, brandy was quaffed, songs were sung.Will Ferguson
Young Cheltenham ladies and gentlemen in striped shirts and Barbours quaffed their drinks and guffawed loudly.John Ayto
quaff a flagon of nut-brown ale …William Thackeray
… curled up on her couch, wearing lounge pants, quaffing her third glass of wine …Nathan Heller
… and in the chimney-corner, they all four quaffed, and smoked, and prosed, and dozed, as they had done of old.Charles Dickens
quaffing from massive steins of German beer while chatting it up with new friends.Jeanne Potter
quaffing adjective
It's a quaffing [=quaffable] wine, one that you drink rather than sip attentively as you might a more complex red … Barbara Ensrud

quaff

2 of 2

noun

plural quaffs
1
: an enjoyable beverage : a beverage (such as wine) that is quaffed or suitable for quaffing
This pleasant quaff offers ripe peach and vanilla flavors and a good balance of bright acidity and moderate sweetness.Wine Spectator
… there is no better quaff with fried chicken than Champagne.Florence Fabricant
2
: a hearty draft or gulp
… a single sensuous quaffJames Villas
He lifted his glass, took a large quaff of the wine, swallowed quickly in his urgency to keep talking.The Virginia Quarterly Review

Did you know?

Quaff and Slug

Nowadays, quaff has an old-fashioned, literary sound to it. For more contemporary words that suggest drinking a lot of something, especially in big gulps and in large quantity, you might try drain, pound, or slug. If you are a daintier drinker, you might say that you prefer to sip, imbibe or partake in the beverage of your choice. Quaff is by no means the oldest of these terms—earliest evidence of it in use is from the early 1500s, whereas sip dates to the 14th century—but it is the only one with the mysterious "origin unknown" etymology.

Examples of quaff in a Sentence

Verb We stopped at a bar and quaffed a few beers. after digging our car out of the snowdrift, we were ready to quaff some hot chocolate Noun she was so thirsty that she drank her iced tea in one long quaff
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
At Oktoberfest, you must be seated to quaff your ale, so start table scouting early. Rebecca Deurlein, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024 Later, Maxine and Palm Beach golden girl Dinah (Leslie Bibb) — who wears a vintage Givenchy Sport cardigan and a coordinating pleated mini skirt and beret — hit the tennis-adjacent golf course, more interested in gossiping and quaffing cocktails than teeing off. Fawnia Soo Hoo, refinery29.com, 23 Apr. 2024
Noun
This one is dry, driven by raspberries and strawberries with more concentration than a simple quaff and enough structure to stand up to something like Chicken Tandoori, Keema (Lamb) or other Indian mainstays. Lana Bortolot, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2024 Beyond the quaffs, though, is a veritable feast of Bond memorabilia and objects associated with the series, which serious collectors may enjoy. Tori Latham, Robb Report, 27 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for quaff 

Word History

Etymology

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Verb

1534, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of quaff was in 1534

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Dictionary Entries Near quaff

Cite this Entry

“Quaff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quaff. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

quaff

verb
: to drink freely
quaff noun
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