swizzle

[ swiz-uhl ]

noun
  1. a tall drink, originating in Barbados, composed of full-flavored West Indian rum, lime juice, crushed ice, and sugar: typically served with a swizzle stick.

verb (used with object),swiz·zled, swiz·zling.
  1. to agitate (a beverage) with a swizzle stick.

  2. to gulp down; guzzle.

Origin of swizzle

1
First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain

Other words from swizzle

  • swizzler, noun

Words Nearby swizzle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use swizzle in a sentence

  • This was followed by a reproduction of the gin-and-water jars, and a round of the immortal swizzle.

    Byron | Richard Edgcumbe
  • McGlade slowly and deliberately drank the last of his swizzle.

    The Shadow | Arthur Stringer
  • swizzle withdrew the auger hurriedly; from its point a few bright red drops trickled.

  • Not fizz at all, but that old brewing of honey—mead—metheglin—old Saxon swizzle.

    Sir Hilton's Sin | George Manville Fenn
  • At the worst of the storm there is neither Heaven nor Earth, but only a swizzle into which a man may be brewed.

British Dictionary definitions for swizzle

swizzle

/ (ˈswɪzəl) /


noun
  1. US an unshaken cocktail

  2. an alcoholic drink containing gin or rum

  1. British informal a swiz

verb
  1. (tr) to stir a swizzle stick in (a drink)

  2. British informal to swindle; cheat

Origin of swizzle

1
C19: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012