Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

carouse

 - 3 dictionary results

ca⋅rouse

[kuh-rouz] verb, -roused, -rous⋅ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to engage in a drunken revel: They caroused all night.
2. to drink deeply and frequently.
–noun
3. carousal.

Origin:
1550–60; var. of garouse < G gar aus (trinken) (to drink) fully out, i.e. drain the cup; cf. MF carous < dial. G gar ūs


ca⋅rous⋅er, noun
ca⋅rous⋅ing⋅ly, adverb


1. revel, celebrate, drink; live it up.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To carouse
ca·rouse   (kə-rouz')   
intr.v.   ca·roused, ca·rous·ing, ca·rous·es
  1. To engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking.

  2. To drink excessively.

n.  Carousal.

[German garaus, all out, drink up : gar, completely (from Middle High German, from Old High German garo) + aus, out, up; see auslander.]
ca·rous'er n.
Word History: The origin of the word carouse can be found in a German interjection that meant "time to leave the bar." German garaus, which is derived from the phrase gar ("all") aus ("out"), meaning "all out," then came to mean "drink up, bottoms up," and "a last drink before closing time." The English borrowed this noun, with the meaning "the practice of sitting around drinking until closing time," sometimes spelling the word garaus but usually spelling it closer to the way it is spelled today. Soon after the word is first recorded as a noun in 1559, we find the verb carouse, in 1567.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

carouse 
1567, from M.Fr. carousser "drink, quaff, swill," from Ger. gar aus "quite out," from gar austrinken "to drink up entirely."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see carouse on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: