SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

birl

verb, chiefly Scottish

Synonyms and Antonyms of birl

to take part in drunken revelry spent a good part of his time in Edinburgh birling into the wee small hours of the night Synonyms binge, carouse [chiefly Scottish], revel, roister, wassailRelated Words booze, drink, guzzle, liquor (up), soak, tipple

Learn More about birl

See words that rhyme with birl Dictionary: Definition of birl

Seen and Heard

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

show

WORD OF THE DAY

broadside

play

a strongly worded attack

Words at Play

alt-59c94ad823f29

'Meat Sweats': The Cookout's Worst Nightmare

They're real, but is meat the cause?

alt-59c919f342079

'Diffuse' vs. 'Defuse'

Let us defuse the situation.

alt-59c52d6ee2f72

Breathing Life Into 'Inspire'

The word's origins are quite literal

alt-59c4207ecf106

Let's Talk 'Tea'

Spill it, sip it: just make it hot.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

young-plant-shoots

Merriam-Webster's New Words Quiz—Fall 2017 Edition!

You're going to have to memorize the dictionary again.

Take the quiz

stylized-drawing-of-woman-pole-vaulting-across-gap-to-get-trophy

Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!

No tricks, just difficult words.

Take the quiz

Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz

SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game