Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
dictionary thesaurus view recents

root beer

noun
Save Word

Definition of root beer

: a sweetened, usually carbonated, brown beverage flavored with extracts of roots (such as sarsaparilla or sassafras) and herbs (such as wintergreen) or with artificial flavorings

Examples of root beer in a Sentence

a bottle of root beer
Recent Examples on the Web Mixtape also does the intriguing-yet-flawed (a pastrami agnolotti; pork belly nuggets with a root beer BBQ sauce and pickled watermelon rind). — Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, "Mixtape: Dining Review," 1 Nov. 2019 Ediza got crispy fries, creamy mac and cheese and a homemade veggie burger — all washed down with root beer served in a Mason jar. — Mike Morris, Los Angeles Times, "Visit a haunted hotel and a creepy castle on a weekend trip to Ione," 26 Sep. 2019 Get coffee drinks and beans, sweet and savory snacks, plus glass bottles of Filbert’s soda, South Side makers of root beer since 1926. — Louisa Chu, chicagotribune.com, "2 food tours of Chicago: Where to eat and what to drink to savor the city," 9 Aug. 2019 Next to their booth, members of Grace Lutheran Church were selling lemonade, coffee, ice tea, root beer floats, nachos, hot dogs, sloppy Joes and chips. — Carol Kovach, cleveland.com, "Lakewood Community Festival draws big crowd to Madison Park," 9 Sep. 2019 Your ticket includes a beer (or root beer) tasting and bratwurst or hot dog. — Sarah Kuta, The Know, "The ultimate guide to Oktoberfest in Colorado, 2019 edition," 13 Sep. 2019 Soda and iced tea refills are free, but refills for housemade root beer ($3.29) are not. — Michael Mayo, sun-sentinel.com, "Review: Hot and bothered at Black Rock in Fort Lauderdale, home of DIY steaks and mystery drink prices," 11 Sep. 2019 The legacy brewer produces beer, root beer and hard seltzer. — Kathy Flanigan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Sprecher’s new Craft Sparkling Waters are prime ingredient for low-calorie cocktails," 4 Sep. 2019 Highlights include a costume contest, photo booth, free raffles and games along with rock ’n’ roll trivia and root beer floats. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Children’s choir sings in Mexico... Make-A-Wish hero ceremony for Poway boy...events," 4 Sep. 2019

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

See More

First Known Use of root beer

1815, in the meaning defined above

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about root beer

Time Traveler for root beer

Time Traveler

The first known use of root beer was in 1815

See more words from the same year

Statistics for root beer

Last Updated

21 Nov 2019

Cite this Entry

“Root beer.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/root%20beer. Accessed 14 December 2019.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for root beer

root beer

noun

English Language Learners Definition of root beer

: a sweet, brown drink that is flavored with roots and herbs and that contains bubbles

See the full definition for root beer in the English Language Learners Dictionary

root beer

noun

Kids Definition of root beer

: a sweet drink flavored with extracts of roots and herbs

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on root beer

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with root beer

Spanish Central: Translation of root beer

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about root beer

Comments on root beer

What made you want to look up root beer? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

impugn

Listen to the pronounciation of impugn

to assail by words or arguments

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz

  • scrabble tiles that read scrabble quiz
  • Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Add Diction

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games