ale

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Banks, your ale is a Philistine fox; z'hart, there's fire i'th tail on't; you are a rogue to charge us with Mugs i'th rereward.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A fermented alcoholic beverage containing malt and hops, similar to but heavier than beer.
  2. noun A serving of this beverage.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • I put a coin on the counter for the ale, then another for the information. —  AHMM,March2006
  • He is not deserving of the name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is good ale, like that which has just made merry the hearts of this poor family; and yet there are beings, calling themselves Englishmen, who say that it is a sin to drink a cup of ale, and who, on coming to this passage will be tempted to fling down the book and exclaim: "The man is evidently a bad man, for behold, by his own confession, he is not only fond of ale himself, but is in the habit of tempting other people with it". —  Lavengro The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest
  • He is not deserving of the name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is good ale, like that which has just made merry the hearts of this poor family; and yet there are beings, calling themselves Englishmen, who say that it is a sin to drink a cup of ale, and who on coming to this passage will be tempted to fling down the book and exclaim, "The man is evidently a bad man, for behold, by his own confession, he is not only fond of ale himself, but is in the habit of tempting other people with it." —  Lavengro The Scholar - The Gypsy - The Priest, Vol. 2 (of 2)
  • He is not deserving of the name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is good ale, like that which has just made merry the hearts of this poor family; and yet there are beings, calling themselves Englishmen, who say that it is a sin to drink a cup of ale, and who, on coming to this passage will be tempted to fling down the book and exclaim, "The man is evidently a bad man, for behold, by his own confession, he is not only fond of ale himself, but is in the habit of tempting other people with it." —  Lavengro the Scholar - the Gypsy - the Priest
  • A pale or stock ale, which is a type of beer that must be "dry" and that will keep, requires to contain a relatively high proportion of dextrin and little maltose, and, in its preparation, therefore, a high mashing temperature will be employed. —  Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria"
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English ealu, alu; see alu- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English ale, from Anglo-Saxon ealu, also ealo, improperly eala (so in nominative and accusative, but genitive and dative ealoth, aloth, pointing to an orig. stem *alut), = Old Saxon alo (in comp. alo-fat = Anglo-Saxon ealofæt, an alecup, later English ale-vat) = Icelandic Swedish Danish öl, ale, = Old Bulgarian olŭ, cider, = Sloven, ol, olej, vol = Old Prussian alu = Lithuanian alus = Lett, allus (later Finn. olut), beer. Cf. Gaelic and Irish ol, drink.
 

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/eɪl/
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