beer
/ˈbɪə̯/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈbɪː/
beer noun: an alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.
Noun (1)
beer (countable and uncountable, plural beers)
- An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.
- Beer is brewed all over the world.
- “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC
- A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
- A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
- A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.
- I bought a few beers from the shop for the party.
- Can I buy you a beer?
- A variety of the above beverages.
- Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.
- I haven't tried this beer before.
Verb
beer (third-person singular simple present beers, present participle beering, simple past and past participle beered)
- To give beer to (someone).
- No doubt he then can feed us, wine us, beer us, And cook us something that can warm and cheer us.1870, Sidney Daryl, His First Brief. A Comedietta in Clement Scott, Drawing-room Plays and Parlour Pantomimes, Robson and Sons, pages 303–304
- “Beer me!” said Goody. “Also your weed is shit. Where’s the good stuff, dude?”2010, Steve Brezenhoff, The Absolute Value of -1, Carolrhoda Lab, page 121
- To drink beer.
- In Japan, students on a Friday night announce “Let's beer!”2008, Charles Foran, Join the Revolution, Comrade: Journeys and Essays, page 83
Noun (2)
US/ˈbi.ɚ/UK/ˈbiː.ə/
beer (plural beers)
- One who is or exists.
- That meant, among other things, that he was going to be a fast-moving doer. And even when he was three or four, it wasn't hard for me to know that this wasn't going to be easy. Because Albert was a beer. Born that way.1990, Budge Wilson, “Be-ers and Doers”, in The leaving, and other stories
Proper noun (1) capitalized: Beer
IPA/ˈbɪɚ/
Beer
- A village in East Devon district, Devon, England.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Beer
Beer
- A surname.
beer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
beer in Hindi
- alcoholic drink made of malt
- बियर biyar, यवसुरा yavsurā, बीयर bīyar, शराब śarāb, मद्य madya, मदिरा madirā
beer in Tamil
- alcoholic drink made of malt
- பியர் piyar
- drink made from roots
- வேரி vēri
beer in Marathi
- बिअर, बियर, बीअर
beer in Urdu
- alcoholic drink made of malt
- بِیئَر bīar, شَراب śarāb
More languagesFewer languages
- beer in Bengali
- বিয়ার biẏar
- beer in Telugu
- బీరు bīru, సారాయి sārāyi
- beer in Malayalam
- ബിയർ biyaṟ, യവമദ്യം yavamadyaṁ, ബിയര് biyarŭ
- beer in Kannada
- ಬಿಯರ್ biyar, ಸಾರಾಯಿ sārāyi
- beer in Punjabi
- ਬੀਅਰ bīara
- beer in Gujarati
- બીયર bīyar
- beer in Odia
- ବିଅର୍ biar, ବିଅର biara
- beer in Sanskrit
- यवसुरा yavasurā
- beer in Sinhala
- බීර bīra, බියර biyara
- beer in Assamese
- মদ mod, বিয়েৰ bier
- beer in Nepali
- बियर biyar
- beer in Pashto
- بير bir
- beer in Tagalog
- serbesa
- beer in Arabic
- بِيرَة bīra, جِعَة jiʕa, مِزْر mizr, بيرة bīra
- beer in Malay
- bir
- beer in Indonesian
- bir
- beer in Persian
- آبْجَوْ ābjaw, آبْجُوْ âbjow, بوزِه buze, بَخْسُم baxsom
- beer in Thai
- เบียร์ biia
- beer in Vietnamese
- bia, rượu, rượu bia, li bia
- beer in Myanmar
- ဗျစ် byac, ဘီယာ bhiya
- Sindhi
- آبجو âb-e jav
Examples of beer in a sentence
- I'd like two beers and a glass of white wine.
- I had two beers yesterday at the restaurant.
- I heard Patty Marsh yelling, ‘Beer him, Eleanor!’2013, Janet E. Cameron, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, Hatchette Books Ireland, page 124:
- “Beer me!” To his astonishment she obeyed his command, appearing a minute later with a glass of beer and a wry smile.2013, R. D. Power, Forbidden, page 39:
Synonyms of beer
5 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of beer
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | beers |
| alternative form | be-er |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | beers |
| present participle | beering |
| past participle | beered |
| past | beered |
Origin of beer
From Middle English ber, bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”) (Oxford OED notes: "rare, except in poetry"), from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”) (putatively from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewsóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”. However, also see the "beer" entry on EtymOnline (q.v.), which links a connection to monastic Vulgar Latin *biber (“a drink, beverage”), from Latin bibere (“to drink”). Samuel Johnson in his famous 18th-century A Dictionary of the English Language guessed it was from (unattested) Welsh *bîr; he distinguished it in his time from ale — the ancient usual word — by beer being older-aged and/or smaller. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor (“beer”), West Frisian bier (“beer”), Dutch bier (“beer”), German Low German Beer (“beer”), German Bier (“beer”), dialectal Swedish bjor, bör (“beer”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjor (“beer”), Faroese bjór (“beer”), Icelandic bjór (“beer”).
From Middle English beere, equivalent to be + -er.
From Old English bearu (“grove”), from Proto-West Germanic *baru, from Proto-Germanic *barwaz (“grove”).
Words formed from beer
- all foam and no beer
- antibeer
- barley beer
- beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
- beerage
- beeraholic
- beeramid
- beer and pretzels game
- beer and skittles
- beer baby
- beer bar
- beer baron
- beer bash
- beer-bellied
- beer belly
- beer bike
- beer blast
- beer bong
- beer bottle
- beer bread
- beer bug
- beer-bust
- beer-butt chicken
- beer can
- beer-can chicken
- beer cellar
- beer cheese
- beer clock
- beer coaster
- beer darts
- beer die
- beered-up
- beeregar
- beer engine
- beerfest
- beer flight
- beer frame
- beer fridge
- beerful
- beer garden
- beergarita
- Beergate
- beer glass
- beer-glass
- beer goggles
- beer-gut
- beer gut
- beer hall
- beer hand
- beer hat
- beerhead
- beer helmet
- beerhound
- beerhouse
- beerily
- beerish
- beerita
- beer knot
- beer league
- beer leaguer
Phrases with beer
- beer up
- beer mat
- beer nut
- beer run
- ear beer
- ice beer
- keg beer
- sky beer
- beer bars
- beer bugs
- beer cans
- beer guts
132 more phrasesFewer phrases
- beer hats
- beer line
- beer lore
- beer mats
- beer mile
- beer nuts
- beer pong
- beer pull
- beer runs
- beer soup
- beer tent
- beer wort
- bock beer
- long beer
- malt beer
- near beer
- nose beer
- rice beer
- root beer
- sour beer
- beer bikes
- beer bongs
- beer halls
- beer hands
- beer knots
- beer lever
- beer lines
- beer match
- beer miles
- beer money
- beer pulls
- beer snake
- beer soups
- beer stick
- beer tents
- beer wench
- beer worts
- birch beer
- black beer
- craft beer
- guest beer
- matai beer
- small beer
- steam beer
- table beer
- weiss beer
- wheat beer
- beer babies
- beer barons
- beer barrel
- beer bashes
- beer blasts
- beer breads
- beer clocks
- beer frames
- beer levers
- beer paddle
- beer parlor
- beer snakes
- beer sticks
- beer ticket
- ginger beer
- kaffir beer
- needle beer
- silver beer
- smoked beer
- spruce beer
- Sunday beer
- beer barrels
- beer bellies
- beer bottles
- beer cellars
- beer engines
- beer flights
- beer fridges
- beer gardens
- beer glasses
- Beer Hackett
- beer helmets
- beer leagues
- beer matches
- beer muscles
- beer mustard
- beer o'clock
- beer paddles
- beer parlors
- beer parlour
- beer tickets
- beer wenches
- chowder beer
- country beer
- hold my beer
- October beer
- session beer
- beer coasters
- beer leaguers
- beer mustards
- beer parlours
- buttered beer
- flight of beer
- flights of beer
- free as in beer
- root beer float
- root beer floats
- all foam, no beer
- cry in one's beer
- egg in one's beer
- ginger beer plant
- skittles and beer
- eggs in one's beer
- weep in one's beer
- cried in one's beer
- cries in one's beer
- cry into one's beer
- crying in one's beer
- weep into one's beer
- for crying in the beer
- beer and pretzels games
- have no fear of ice cold beer
- champagne taste on a beer budget
- champagne taste on a beer salary
- champagne taste on a beer wallet
- champagne tastes on beer budgets
- champagne tastes on a beer budget
- champagne tastes on a beer salary
- champagne tastes on a beer wallet
- life is not all beer and skittles
- champagne taste on a beer billfold
- champagne tastes on a beer billfold
- champagne taste on a beer pocketbook
- champagne tastes on a beer pocketbook
- beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you're in the clear
Words that rhyme with beer
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- spear
- career
- fear
- here
- steer
- appear
- cavalier
- cheer
- leer
- pioneer
- queer
- volunteer
- adhere
- chandelier
- deer
- financier
- pier
- premier
- privateer
- sheer
- veer
- vizier
- austere
- bombardier
- brigadier
- cashmere
- commandeer
- disappear
- endear
- grenadier
- interfere
- mere
- mountaineer
- peer
- sear
- tear
- tier
- unclear
- arrear
- bier
- blear
- cameleer
- cashier
- chiffonier
- cohere
- fakir
- farseer
- frontier
Questions about beer
- What does beer mean?
- Beer means an alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.
- What is beer in Hindi?
- Beer in Hindi is बियर (biyar), यवसुरा (yavsurā), बीयर (bīyar). See Beer meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use beer in a sentence?
- I'd like two beers and a glass of white wine.
- What part of speech is beer?
- Beer can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce beer?
- Beer is pronounced /ˈbɪə̯/ (UK).
- What is the plural of beer?
- The plural of beer is beers.
Words near beer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: beer (page history and authors); Beer (page history and authors); beer (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-beer.ogg, en-au-beer.ogg, en-us-beer.ogg.
Cite this entry: “beer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.