Search this site:

Definition of carouse


Reference


Word of the Day
exculpate
Definition: (verb) to free from blame or guilt.
Petersons.com
Add Word of the Day to your personalized My Yahoo! page:
Add to My Yahoo! View RSS Feed
About My Yahoo! and RSS »

 

ca·rouse  audio  (k-rouz) KEY  

intr.v.
ca·roused , ca·rous·ing , ca·rous·es
  1. To engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking.
  2. To drink excessively.
NOUN:
Carousal.

ETYMOLOGY:
German garaus, all out, drink up : gar, completely (from Middle High German, from Old High German garo) + aus, out, up ; see auslander

OTHER FORMS:
ca·rouser (Noun)

WORD HISTORY:
The origin of the word carouse can be found in a German interjection that meant "time to leave the bar." German garaus, which is derived from the phrase gar ("all") aus ("out"), meaning "all out," then came to mean "drink up, bottoms up," and "a last drink before closing time." The English borrowed this noun, with the meaning "the practice of sitting around drinking until closing time," sometimes spelling the word garaus but usually spelling it closer to the way it is spelled today. Soon after the word is first recorded as a noun in 1559, we find the verb carouse, in 1567.


Visit our partner's site
Provided by Houghton Mifflin
logoeReference -- Download this interactive reference software to your desktop computer


Search Dictionary:

 More on Yahoo! Education
 • Online and On-Campus Degree Programs
    MBAs  -  Technology Management  -  Education  -  Health  -  More

 • College & Grad School - A Comprehensive Guide
    College Search  -  Test Prep  -  Application Tips  -  Scholarship Search
 

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Other Important Information
-