beera fermented alcoholic beverage: He went to the tavern for a beer.Not to be confused with:bier ? a funeral litter: They placed the coffin on the bier.Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embreebeer (bîr)n.1. a. A fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt, usually flavored with hops.b. A fermented beverage brewed by traditional methods that is then dealcoholized so that the finished product contains no more than 0.5 percent alcohol.c. A carbonated beverage produced by a method in which the fermentation process is either circumvented or altered, resulting in a finished product having an alcohol content of no more than 0.01 percent.2. A beverage made from extracts of roots and plants: birch beer.3. A serving of one of these beverages.[Middle English ber, from Old English b?or, from West Germanic, probably from Latin bibere, to drink; see p?(i)- in Indo-European roots.]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.beer (b??) n1. (Brewing) an alcoholic drink brewed from malt, sugar, hops, and water and fermented with yeast. Compare ale2. (Brewing) a slightly fermented drink made from the roots or leaves of certain plants: ginger beer; nettle beer. 3. (modifier) relating to or used in the drinking of beer: beer glass; beer mat. 4. (modifier) in which beer is drunk, esp (of licensed premises) having a licence to sell beer: beer house; beer cellar; beer garden. [Old English beor; related to Old Norse bj?rr, Old Frisian bi?r, Old High German bior]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014beer (b??r) n. 1. an alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermentation from cereals, usu. malted barley, and flavored with hops and the like for a slightly bitter taste. 2. any of various beverages, whether alcoholic or not, made from roots, molasses or sugar, yeast, etc., as root beer. [before 1000; Middle English bere, Old English b?or, c. Old Saxon, Old High German bior] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.BeerSee also alcohol; fermentation; wine. beerocracyEngland. the aristocracy that gained its wealth and social position from the ownership of breweries.cooperagethe barrel or container used to store and ship draft beer.labeorphilythe collecting of beer bottle labels. ? labeorphile, n.meadophilythe study of beer bottle labels. ? meadophile, n.tegetologythe collecting of cardboard beer coasters. ? tegetologist, n.-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.