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1. The act of consuming liquids
   - imbibing, imbibition
    
2. The act of drinking alcoholic beverages to excess
   "drinking was his downfall";
   - drink, boozing, drunkenness, crapulence

1. Take in liquids
   "The children like to drink soda"; "The patient must drink several litres each day";
   - imbibe
    
2. Consume alcohol
   "We were up drinking all night";
   - hit the bottle [informal], booze [informal], fuddle
    
3. Propose a toast to
   "Let's drink to the New Year";
   - toast, pledge, salute, wassail [archaic]
    
4. Be fascinated or spell-bound by; pay close attention to
   "The mother drinks in every word of her son on the stage";
   - drink in
    
5. Drink excessive amounts of alcohol; be an alcoholic
   "The husband drinks and beats his wife";
   - tope [archaic]

Derived forms: drinkings

Type of: absorb, consume, consumption, engross, engulf, fete, fête, have, honor [US], honour [Brit, Cdn], immerse, ingest, ingestion, ingulf [archaic], intake, intemperance, intemperateness, plunge, reward, soak up, squander, steep, take, take in, uptake, ware [archaic], waste

Encyclopedia: Drinking