spirits

1. 1
   nounAustraliaNew ZealandUKcountableplural

   Distilled alcoholic beverages, such as whiskey, gin, rum, and vodka.

   The bar stocks a wide range of spirits, from gin to brandy.

   In Britain, spirits are taxed at a higher rate than wine.

   Similarliquor

   Note

   The drinks-cabinet meaning is plural-only. Speakers talk about spirits, not a spirit, when they mean gin, whiskey or rum as a class. It is the everyday term in British, Australian and New Zealand English, where it appears on menus and in tax law alike. Liquor is a synonym that covers the same ground.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of spirit.

   Ancient cultures left offerings to appease the spirits of their ancestors.

   Her spirits lifted as soon as the sun came out.

   Note

   Most meanings of spirit simply add -s: souls, ghosts, the spirits of the dead. Two change in the plural. Enthusiasm becomes mood, as when someone's spirits lift or sink. The volatile-liquid meaning settles into the word for distilled liquor, where the plural is the normal form. Only context separates the spirits at a séance from the spirits behind a bar.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of spirit.

   The magician spirits a coin out of sight with a flick of the wrist.

   Each night the smuggler spirits goods across the border.

   Note

   Two quite different verbs share this form. One means carrying something off in haste or secrecy, and it usually takes a particle: a guard spirits a prisoner away, a waiter spirits the plates off. The other, sometimes followed by up, means putting heart into someone, close to inspirit. The particle usually tells you which one you have: away or off for removal, up for encouragement.

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