mescal

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mes·cal

(mĕs-kăl′) also mez·cal (mĕz-kăl′)

a. A Mexican liquor distilled from the fermented sap of certain agaves.

b. A food prepared by cooking the large young flowering stalk of certain agaves.

c. An agave, especially one used for producing food or beverages.

[American Spanish, from Nahuatl mexcalli, cooked agave : metl, me-, agave + ixca, to bake + -l-, passive suffix + -tli, unpossessed absolute singular noun suffix.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mescal

(mɛˈskæl)

1. (Plants) Also called: peyote a spineless globe-shaped cactus, Lophophora williamsii, of Mexico and the southwestern US. Its button-like tubercles (mescal buttons) contain mescaline and are chewed by certain Indian tribes for their hallucinogenic effects

2. (Brewing) a colourless alcoholic spirit distilled from the fermented juice of certain agave plants

[C19: from American Spanish, from Nahuatl mexcalli the liquor, from metl maguey + ixcalli stew]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mes•cal

(mɛˈskæl)

n.

1. an alcoholic beverage distilled from certain species of agave.

2. any agave yielding this spirit.

3. Also called peyote. a species of spineless, dome-shaped cactus, Lophophora williamsii, of Texas and N Mexico.

4. mescal button.

[1695–1705, Amer.; < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl mexcalli intoxicant distilled from agave]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	mescal - a small spineless globe-shaped cactus; source of mescal buttons Lophophora williamsii, mezcal, peyote cactus - any succulent plant of the family Cactaceae native chiefly to arid regions of the New World and usually having spines genus Lophophora, Lophophora - two species of small cacti of northeastern Mexico and southwestern United States having rounded stems covered with jointed tubercles: mescal magic mushroom, mescal button, sacred mushroom - the button-shaped top of the mescal cactus; a source of psilocybin
	2.	mescal - a colorless Mexican liquor distilled from fermented juices of certain desert plants of the genus Agavaceae (especially the century plant) booze, hard drink, hard liquor, John Barleycorn, liquor, spirits, strong drink - an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented Agave atrovirens, maguey - Mexican plant used especially for making pulque which is the source of the colorless Mexican liquor, mescal

Translations

mescal

[ˈmeskæl] N → mezcal m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mescal

n mezcal m

References in periodicals archive ?

Where there's smoky mescal, there's fiery jalapeno--or so goes the logic behind the bold Old Oaxaca at The Table Creekside, which mixes Montelobos-brand mescal, elderflower liqueur, cactus pear, jalapeno-infused agave and lime, for a sweet/smoky/spicy combo you won't soon forget.

The Sarasota Margarita: A cocktail so perfectly local we're willing to rewrite history

Juchitan's velas, festivals that stretch across days, or even whole weeks, awash in beer and mescal, confetti and loud music, celebrate the city's patron saint, the plum harvest, fishermen, potters, taxi drivers, market vendors, muxes.

La Intrepida

You know--the agave that makes the alcohol for Mescal or Tequila.

What happened to simple?

On a few occasions, however, we observed dead tadpoles being scavenged by ants in pools that had dried, such as in Mescal Arroyo, Arizona.

Aquatic invertebrate and vertebrate communities of ephemeral stream ecosystems in the arid Southwestern United States

Morgue-a-Rita - Tequila, orange curacao, lime & honey, blended with dry ice, served with strawberry syrup & topped with Mescal worm garnish

Halloween in Newcastle: Nine creepy cocktails to have a sip on this weekend; Halloween is here and some of the region's bars are getting in the spirit quite literally with some creepy cocktails

SATURDAY'S SOLUTION: acme; amice; calm; calmest; came; camel; case; cast; caste; castle; cease; ceil; celesta; celt; cist; cite; claim; clam; clast; cleat; clematis; climate; clime; eclat; elastic; elect; emetic; ileac; lace; laciest; laic; mace; macle; malice; mascle; mastic; melic; mescal; mesic; metic; metical; mica; scale; scam; scat; sect; select; sice; slice; talc; telic; TIMESCALE.

Nonagram

Arthropods in natural communities in mescal agave (Agave durangensis Gentry) in an arid zone.

Primer reporte de Peltophorus polymitus Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) en tres especies de Agave (Asparagaceae) en Mexico

W HAT would you call a dinner consisting of tacos stuffed with scrambled ant eggs, guacamole topped up with fried grasshopper shavings, and mescal, Mexico's grappa- like national drink made from a cousin of the agave, accompanied by slices of orange spiked with a salt loaded with roasted worms?

A Fiesta On A Magic Carpet

They do fun touristy things like trying iguana head soup, blue tortillas and a powerful 55% proof spirit, mescal. But they also see a darker side, meeting young migrants escaping poverty and violence for a better life in the US.

WE LOVE TRAVEL

The teenagers, who we ferried up the river with to split the fare, lit a joint and played cards for swigs of ten peso mescal. I was sick from fish empanadas.

Young Coconut

"We only serve beer or mescal," the bartender told me politely.

For a century, Tijuana has been the black of the U.S.-Mexico border:

Along with the wildcatting, the bootlegging chapters (Hettie and Garret begin rumrunning Mexican mescal and tequila to earn wildcatting money) are the most colorful parts of the narrative.