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bitters

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
bit·ter  (btr)
adj. bit·ter·er, bit·ter·est
1. Having or being a taste that is sharp, acrid, and unpleasant.
2. Causing a sharply unpleasant, painful, or stinging sensation; harsh: enveloped in bitter cold; a bitter wind.
3. Difficult or distasteful to accept, admit, or bear: the bitter truth; bitter sorrow.
4. Proceeding from or exhibiting strong animosity: a bitter struggle; bitter foes.
5. Resulting from or expressive of severe grief, anguish, or disappointment: cried bitter tears.
6. Marked by resentment or cynicism: "He was already a bitter elderly man with a gray face" (John Dos Passos).
adv.
In an intense or harsh way; bitterly: a bitter cold night.
tr.v. bit·tered, bit·ter·ing, bit·ters
To make bitter.
n.
1. That which is bitter: "all words . . . /Failing to give the bitter of the sweet" (Tennyson).
2. bitters A bitter, usually alcoholic liquid made with herbs or roots and used in cocktails or as a tonic.
3. Chiefly British A sharp-tasting beer made with hops.

[Middle English, from Old English; see bheid- in Indo-European roots.]

bitter·ly adv.
bitter·ness n.
Synonyms: bitter, acerbic, acrid
These adjectives mean unpleasantly sharp or pungent in taste or smell: a bitter cough syrup; an acerbic green apple; acrid smoke.

bitters [ˈbɪtəz]
pl n
1. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Brewing) bitter-tasting spirits of varying alcoholic content flavoured with plant extracts
2. (Medicine / Pharmacology) a similar liquid containing a bitter-tasting substance, used as a tonic to stimulate the appetite or improve digestion
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.bitters - alcoholic liquor flavored with bitter herbs and roots
booze, hard drink, hard liquor, John Barleycorn, liquor, spirits, strong drink - an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented


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Whether Mrs Blifil had been surfeited with the sweets of marriage, or disgusted by its bitters, or from what other cause it proceeded, I will not determine; but she could never be brought to listen to any second proposals.
"A mixture of absinth and some West Indian bitters," Granet replied.
"But I can take mine," said the farmer, "that if Squire Higginbotham was murdered night before last, I drank a glass of bitters with his ghost this morning.
 
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