Boozling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Drinking alcohol steadily and heavily, especially in a convivial or carousing way
2. Indulging in strong drink over a long stretch, typically with friends at a tavern or pub
3. Consuming large quantities of liquor, often in a noisy and unrestrained fashion

Etymology: "Booze" is the older word. It came into English in the Middle Ages from Middle Dutch "būsen", meaning to drink to excess, and kept that heavy-drinking sense for centuries before it came to mean alcohol itself. "Boozle" seems to be a variant built on the same base, with an ending like that of "guzzle" and "nuzzle". "Boozling" is the form used for the act of drinking heavily, so it means carousing or tippling. Its early history is poorly documented, so the exact route into English is uncertain. The meaning stays close to the Dutch root: a drinking bout, not the drink itself.

Synonyms: drinking, tippling, guzzling