Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An insatiable craving for alcoholic beverages.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In pathol, an irresistible and insatiable craving for intoxicants.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) A morbid an uncontrollable craving (often periodic) for drink, esp. for alcoholic liquors; also improperly used to denote acute and chronic alcoholism.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun pathology an
addiction toalcohol
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an intense persistent desire to drink alcoholic beverages to excess
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Indeed, the bad name that proverbially hangs the dog has already been given to the one under consideration, for bibliomania is older in the technology of this kind of nosology than dipsomania, which is now understood to be an almost established ground for seclusion, and deprivation of the management of one's own affairs.
The Book-Hunter A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author John Hill Burton
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This condition occasionally proved to be the stage of transition into yet another modification of the disease -- that known as dipsomania, the phase exhibited by Bill Bates and the Semi-drunk.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Robert Tressell 1890
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A similar propensity for the use of liquor is termed dipsomania; so an uncontrollable disposition to smoke the pipe may be termed capnizomania.
Plain facts for old and young : embracing the natural history and hygiene of organic life. 1877
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Because of this, we have the word "dipsomania," which the OED defines as:
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Because of this, we have the word "dipsomania," which the OED defines as:
Archive 2008-02-01 2008
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Her "dipsomania" took an unaggressive form, as she was by nature gentle and sweet; she simply used to shut herself in and drink until she would cry herself into a timid, suppressed hysteria.
The Second Generation David Graham Phillips 1889
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Relocating is what led to the drug addiction, prostitution, and death that freaked out a generation of readers in Go Ask Alice, and to the teenybopper dipsomania of Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic.
What Girls Want 2008
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Relocating is what led to the drug addiction, prostitution, and death that freaked out a generation of readers in Go Ask Alice, and to the teenybopper dipsomania of Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic.
What Girls Want 2008
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Relocating is what led to the drug addiction, prostitution, and death that freaked out a generation of readers in Go Ask Alice, and to the teenybopper dipsomania of Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic.
What Girls Want 2008
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The Derby piece is quite amazing, and it introduces the "mature" Thompson, if that word applies, including his centrality to the narrative, his dipsomania, his hallucinogens and his sidekick (in this case the artist Ralph Steadman).
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