Word of the Day
: July 27, 2009quaff
playWhat It Means
: to drink deeply
quaff in Context
"'Respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!' / Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'" (Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven)
Did You Know?
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.
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