juice

Etymology 1

From Middle English jus, juis, from Old French jus, jous, from Latin jūs (“broth, soup, sauce”), from Proto-Indo-European *yows-, from *yew- (“to mix (of meal preparation)”). Doublet of jus. In this sense, mostly displaced native Middle English sew (“juice”), from Old English sēaw (“juice, sap”) (> English sew (“juice, broth, gravy”)).

noun

1. (uncountable) A liquid from a plant, especially fruit.
   1837 April, J. M. (London), in "Miscellaneous Intelligence: Art. V. Queries and Answers", The Gardener's Magazine, August edition, page 378. You are aware, I presume, that immense quantities of sugar are annually made from the juice of the A`cer sacchárinum, in the west of Pennsylvania and New York, with which our forests abound (Professor Kid, in his Bridgwater Treatise, says they are “cultivated”!); and, as the peculiarities attending the flow of this juice have puzzled me to explain them, I have resolved to state them to you.
   The plant juices of both bean and potato gave strong positive tests, showing that the juices of these plants can readily dissolve copper in some form from bordeaux-mixture residue and absorb it through a permeable membrane. 1940 November, Dwight M. DeLong, “Studies of Methods and Materials for the Control of the Leafhopper Empoasca fabae as a Bean Pest”, in Technical Bulletin, number 740, United States Department of Agriculture, page 26
   Squeeze the orange and some juice will come out.
2. (countable) A beverage made of juice.
   The bottled juice must be heated to a temperature and for a time sufficient to attain a sterilizing temperature at the coolest point, usually the center of the bottle. 1938, C.B. Hutchison, S.B. Freeborn, Toward Better Agriculture: Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of California, page 44
   2006, Katie Kitamura, Japanese for Travellers: A Journey, Hamish Hamilton (publ.), page 189. My mom placed a glass of juice before her, then looked questioningly towards the son.
   I’d like two orange juices please.
3. (uncountable) Any liquid resembling juice.
   1. (Scotland) A soft drink.
   2. (uncountable, slang) Liquor.
   3. (informal) The liquid that is used to submerge a substance kept in a container
   4. (slang) The leftover liquid of some wet or damp substance.
4. (uncountable, slang) Vitality, strength.
   This chance manner of her laying herself fallow gives her an opportunity of recovering her juices, or strength, to enable her to breed a stronger foal. 1884 July, Alfales Young, “Letter from Salt Lake City”, in Wallace's Monthly, volume X, number 6, page 450
   And privately the president says, “Do the Iraqis have the juice to carry this off?” 2019, Timothy Andrews Sayle, Jeffrey A. Engel, Hal Brands, William Inboden, editors, The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush's Decision to Surge in Iraq, page 161
5. (uncountable, slang) Political power.
   CNBC's Matthews: "The power in the Republican party in terms of who's got the juice, who knows how to win elections, has clearly moved tonight ... from Capitol Hill, the Newt Gingrich crowd, to the governors' crowd" ("Hardball," CNBC. 11/3). 1998, The Hotline, page 16
6. (uncountable, slang) Petrol; gasoline.
   1973, Stephen Barlay, Double Cross: Encounters with Industrial Spies, Hamish Hamilton (publ.), page 227. Drove across the road to the petrol station and waited for five minutes—without buying juice.
   Drivers running short on power could simply stop at a gas station and fill up, obviating the fear of running out of juice on a long and lonely road, always a risk with the EV-1. 2009, William J. Holstein, Why GM Matters: Inside the Race to Transform an American Icon, Walker Books, page 137
7. (uncountable, slang) Electricity.
   This is the shrine of the God That Works, Driving away the mists and murks, Turning the lightnings into use. This is the shrine of the mighty "Juice," Flowing ever the long wires through, And making the dream, the Dream come true! 1915, Berton Braley, "The Power Plant"
   `Perhaps, later on, but I've got lots to show you - and besides, it's a waste of "juice".' July 1917, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 180, column 2
8. (uncountable, slang, bodybuilding) Steroids.
9. (uncountable, slang, vulgar, sex) Semen.
   1981, Susan Griffin, Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature, page 62, quoting Yvette Clemons, The Skin Flick Rapist. The demand that a woman drink semen is repeated throughout pornography. Volume after volume presents such scenes as this which we find in The Skin Flick Rapist: "Maria gagged on his juice. It made him so angry that he reached out with his right hand and pulled at her hair."
   I pulled my cock out of North and he fell forward, his face in the cum-soaked laundry. He rolled over on his back and looked up at me. I shook the last drops of juice from my prick. 2005, Michael Thomas Ford, Tangled Sheets, Kensington Books, page 242
10. (uncountable, slang, vulgar, sex) The vaginal lubrication that a female naturally produces when sexually aroused.
    Lily shuddered and looked at me as I came up from between her legs with her juices dripping all over me. 1999, Tristan Taormino, editor, Best Lesbian Erotica 1999, Cleis Press, page 62
    Body singing with pleasure, she found he was right, and her juices flowed as he pulled her back down on his stiffness. 2006, Donna Lea Simpson, Awaiting the Night, page 247
11. (uncountable, slang) The amount charged by a bookmaker for betting services.
12. (uncountable, slang, music) Musical agreement between instrumentalists.

verb

1. (transitive) To extract the juice from something.
2. (transitive) To energize or stimulate something.
3. (intransitive, slang, bodybuilding) To take a performance-enhancing drug.
   I followed the home run race between Sosa and McGuire, and any fool could see they were juicing. 2012, Phil Denapoli, Preying on the Innocent, page 233

Etymology 2

Dialectal spelling of Jew's, a particle of unclear origin. See Jew's harp for more.

adj

1. Alternative spelling of Jew's (used in certain set phrases like juice harp)