Noun

(organic chemistry, countable) Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).

(uncountable) An intoxicating beverage made by the fermentation of sugar or sugar-containing material.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Snakes and ladders , passage=Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins.}}

(obsolete) Any very fine powder.

Noun

(-)

(obsolete, Temperance movement) The practice of abstaining completely from the drinking of alcohol; teetotalism

*{{quote-book, 1862, James Miller, Nephalism, the true temperance of Scripture, science, and experience, page=109, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=v9cXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA109

, passage=Our Nephalism we seek to honour as a stepping-stone to the gospel

*{{quote-news, 1881, January 26, , Church of England Temperance Society, Sydney Morning Herald citation

, passage=The medical profession is somewhat divided in its estimate of the comparative value of temperance and of nephalism in promoting the designs which we have in view.}}

*{{quote-book, 1881, Rev. M. de Colleville, The National Temperance League's Annual, chapter=Alcoholic Intemperance in Continental States, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?pg=RA2-PA45&id=bgUFAAAAQAAJ, page=45

, passage=May the Lord have mercy on the drunkards of Continental Europe,