liquor

Etymology

From Middle English licour, from Anglo-Norman licour, from Latin liquor (“fluidity, liquidness, a fluid, a liquid”), from liquere (“to be fluid or liquid”); see liquid. Doublet of liqueur.

noun

1. (obsolete) A liquid, a fluid.
   Thus Water also, or any other Liquor, included in a convenient vessel, by being warmed, manifestly expands it self with a very great violence […] 1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia
   Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry, "Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry." 1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 1
2. (obsolete) A drinkable liquid.
3. A liquid obtained by cooking meat or vegetables (or both).
4. (UK, cooking) A parsley sauce commonly served with traditional pies and mash.
5. (chiefly US, Canada, Australia) Strong alcoholic drink derived from fermentation and distillation; more broadly, any alcoholic drink.
   Here the proprietor has had the good sense of holding on to the good old fashion of giving his customers their moneyworth of good wines and liquors. 1879, Chas. McArmor, The New Handbook of Vienna[…], 2nd edition, Otto Maass, page 106
6. In process industry, a liquid in which a desired reaction takes place, e.g. pulping liquor is a mixture of chemicals and water which breaks wood into its components, thus facilitating the extraction of cellulose.
7. A liquid in which something has been steeped.

verb

1. (intransitive) To drink liquor, usually to excess.
2. (transitive) To cause someone to drink liquor, usually to excess.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To grease.