wassail
a salutation wishing health to a person, used in England in early times when presenting a cup of drink or when drinking to the person.
a festivity or revel with drinking of healths.
liquor for drinking and wishing health to others on festive occasions, especially spiced ale, as on Christmas Eve and Twelfth-night.
Archaic. a song sung in wassailing.
to revel with drinking.
to drink to the health or success of; toast.
Origin of wassail
1Other words from wassail
- was·sail·er, noun
Words Nearby wassail
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wassail in a sentence
By the time he has gorged himself with wassail, as is his wont, he will not know an old Countess from a young one.
Quentin Durward | Sir Walter ScottI have already arranged with an artist to do some pictures, and I remember I particularly ordered a robin and a wassail.
Happy Days | Alan Alexander MilneThe wassail bowl originally meant a health-drinking vessel, and is of very ancient origin.
Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore | Charles HardwickDeep into the night the drunken revelry resounded over the lake, until Father Olmedo remonstrated against such godless wassail.
Hernando Cortez | John S. C. AbbottAnd let the wassail Cup abound, Whene'er the mummers' time comes round.
The Peace Egg and Other tales | Juliana Horatia Ewing
British Dictionary definitions for wassail
/ (ˈwɒseɪl) /
(formerly) a toast or salutation made to a person at festivities
a festivity when much drinking takes place
alcoholic drink drunk at such a festivity, esp spiced beer or mulled wine
the singing of Christmas carols, going from house to house
archaic a drinking song
to drink the health of (a person) at a wassail
(intr) to go from house to house singing carols at Christmas
Origin of wassail
1Derived forms of wassail
- wassailer, noun
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
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