Word.ws English Dictionary

message in a bottle

message in a bottle noun: a message written on a scrap of paper, rolled up and put in an empty bottle and set adrift on the ocean; traditionally, a method used by castaways to advertise their distress to the outside world.

Noun

message in a bottle (plural messages in a bottle or messages in bottles)

  1. A message written on a scrap of paper, rolled up and put in an empty bottle and set adrift on the ocean; traditionally, a method used by castaways to advertise their distress to the outside world.
    • I'll send an SOS to the world / I hope that someone gets my / Message in a bottle1979, Sting, “Message in a Bottle”, in Reggatta de Blanc, performed by The Police
    Synonyms:
    sea-bottle
  2. (figuratively) An analogous message sent off into the world or universe without knowledge of who the recipient will be: plaques on craft launched into outer space, interstellar radio messages, stationary time capsules, balloon mail, and so on.
    • 'Cause you could be the one that I love, oh, oh, oh / I could be the one that you dream of, of, of / A message in a bottle is all I can do-oo / Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you2021, Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback, “Message in a Bottle”, in Red (Taylor's Version), performed by Taylor Swift

Synonyms of message in a bottle

Forms of message in a bottle

pluralmessages in a bottle
pluralmessages in bottles

Questions about message in a bottle

What does message in a bottle mean?
Message in a bottle means a message written on a scrap of paper, rolled up and put in an empty bottle and set adrift on the ocean; traditionally, a method used by castaways to advertise their distress to the outside world.
What part of speech is message in a bottle?
Message in a bottle is a noun.
What is the plural of message in a bottle?
The plural of message in a bottle is messages in a bottle.

Words near message in a bottle in the dictionary

  1. message brokers
  2. message control
  3. message coupling
  4. message couplings
  5. message fiction
  6. message in a bottle
  7. message pump
  8. message pumps
  9. message queue
  10. message queues
  11. message stick

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: message in a bottle (page history and authors). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-message in a bottle.wav.

Cite this entry: “message in a bottle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/message_in_a_bottle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.