birling

present participle of birl, chiefly Scottish
as in drinking
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 & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for birling
Verb
  • Anyone who’s drinking hot pumpkin spice lattes in a chunky sweater may need to rein it in for a little while.
    Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Sheen and Peele were on a plane and tensions were already high between the two — while Sheen started drinking heavily in his seat.
    Michael Schneider, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Historically linked to meditation and traditional Japanese dining culture, today’s iterations are all about modern living needs that suit every whim—lounging while binging on the White Lotus reruns, creating a reading nook, or simply losing oneself in texts at the end of the day.
    Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Why is Broken Bear, who looks like a ginormous purple guinea pig who’s been bingeing Cheetos, named that?
    Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Birling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birling. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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