1. The act of consuming liquids
   "His drinking of several cocktails made him unfit to drive";
   - imbibing, imbibition
    
2. The act of drinking alcoholic beverages to excess
   "drinking was his downfall";
   - drink, boozing [informal], 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. Drink excessive amounts of alcohol; be an alcoholic
   "The husband drinks and beats his wife";
   - tope [archaic]
    
4. Propose a toast to
   "Let's drink to the New Year";
   - toast, pledge, salute, wassail [archaic]
    
5. Be fascinated or spell-bound by; pay close attention to
   "The mother drinks in every word of her son on the stage";
   - drink in

Derived forms: drinkings

See also: belt down [informal], drink up

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

Encyclopedia: Drinking