Meaning & use
beverage
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
Any kind of drink, especially one that is not plain water.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a beverage, two beverages, or beverages in general.
Patterns
- a beverage
- beverages
- soft beverage
- alcoholic beverage
The café offers a wide range of hot and cold beverages.
Please choose a beverage to go with your meal.
Sports drinks are popular beverages among athletes.
nouncountable or uncountableformalbusiness
A liquid used for drinking, considered as a category in nutrition or retail.
Grammar: Often used in the plural in business or labeling contexts: beverage industry, beverage sales.
Patterns
- the beverage industry
- beverage sales
- food and beverage
She works in the food and beverage sector.
The company reported strong beverage sales this quarter.
Nutrition labels list the ingredients of each beverage.
Word forms
| plural | beverages |
|---|
Common combinations
- hot beverage
- A cup of tea is a popular hot beverage.
- cold beverage
- They served cold beverages at the picnic.
- alcoholic beverage
- The law restricts the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors.
- soft beverage
- Soft beverages like soda and juice are available.
- food and beverage
- He has years of experience in the food and beverage industry.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drink
- The everyday word; 'beverage' is more formal and often used on menus or in business.
- refreshment
- Usually refers to a light drink or snack, often in social settings; 'beverage' is more neutral.
- liquid
- A general term for any fluid; 'beverage' specifically means a drink for people.
Word family
- beverages noun
- Plural form of beverage.
Commonly confused: beverage or beverage?
beverage vs beverage
Sometimes misspelled as 'beveridge' or 'beaverage'; remember it ends with -age.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'beverage' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Beverage' is a noun, so it fits as the object of 'offers'. The other options wrongly use it as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “beverage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.