Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
in one's cups en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(idiomatic) Drunk; in the act of consuming alcohol liberally.
[H]ere he gambled, there he drank; and in his cups every virtue dissolved.
1906, E. W. Hornung, chapter 1, in The Shadow of the Rope:[T]he natives were an honest, social race of jolly roysterers, who had no objection to a drinking bout, and were very merry in their cups.
1809, Washington Irving, chapter 6, in Knickerbocker's History of New York:They grew only the more sober in their cups; there was no confused babble nor boisterous laughter. They sucked in the joyous fire of the decanters and kept it smouldering in their inmost recesses.
1852, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 21, in The Blithedale Romance:The woman on the other hand is in her cups swigging from one wine glass while another stands at her elbow.
2006 November 17, Margaret Hawkins, “Home Alone: Blackmon photos find solitude among domestic chaos”, in Chicago Sun-Times, page NC50:
Forms
Synonyms
drunk