Overdrinks

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To consume alcoholic beverages in excess beyond a moderate or intended amount; to drink beyond a safe or healthy limit; the act or instance of ingesting too much alcohol
2. Engaging in the intake of liquor beyond customary or controlled levels; surpassing recommended drinking habits; the behavior of imbibing excessive quantities of alcoholic drinks
3. The process of overindulgence in alcoholic consumption; exceeding typical or advised amounts of beverage intake; an occurrence of drinking with excessive quantity or frequency

Etymology: "Overdrinks" is the third-person singular present form of "overdrink," so it is the verb's present tense used with he, she, or it. The verb itself is an old one: it descends from Old English "oferdrincan," meaning "to overdrink," built from "ofer," "over" or "beyond," and "drincan," "to drink." The Old English word had a noun companion, "oferdrync," meaning excessive drinking or drunkenness, which shows that the idea of drinking past the proper measure was named as a thing in its own right long before the verb was used in the modern sense. Middle English later had a noun form, "overdrink," meaning the same, though the verb form is what survives in standard use. English shares this formation with its continental relatives. German "übertrinken" and Swedish "överdrycka" are built on the same pattern of a prefix meaning "over" attached to "drink," so the word is a transparent compound rather than a borrowing.

Synonyms: overeats, overindulges, imbibes excessively, overconsumes

Antonyms: underdrinks, moderates, limits