Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Russian fermented beverage similar to beer, made from rye or barley.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fermented drink in general use in Russia, taking the place of the beer of other countries.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A type of traditional fermented Russian beverage with little or no alcohol, made from bread, often flavored with fruit.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun fermented beverage resembling beer but made from rye or barley

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Russian kvas, from Old Russian kvasŭ.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Russian квас (kvas).

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Examples

  • Another drink is kvass which is generally sold by old ladies from a miniature tanker at a dirt cheap price.

    TravelPod.com TravelStream™ — Recent Entries at TravelPod.com 2010

  • Russia has gone back to rule by a czar, who has revived the ancient traditions: vodka and kvass and birch juice, tile ovens, Orthodox churches.

    From Russia, With Lurid Storytelling Tom Shippey 2011

  • On departure day, I said a final good morning to the cats in the Europa Royal hotel courtyard, purchased an amber necklace I'd admired on Smilsu iela and settled into a café to sip one last kvass, a fermented drink.

    Little Country, Big Impact Kathy Reichs 2011

  • Her mother, Itke (the daughter of Kadish Katz/Kaplan, for whom Kadya was named), ran a dry-goods shop, and later opened a factory for making rye kvass.

    Kadya Molodowsky. 2009

  • A sampling: Yermak Named after the 16th-century Cossack leader famous for his exploits in the Siberian wilderness, this rustic spot offers wild-animal meats and forest berries, plus just-baked black bread and homemade kvass, the quintessential Cossack aperitif.

    Tip Sheet 2007

  • They served, too, a pie with onion and steamed turnip with kvass.

    The Schoolmistress and other stories 2004

  • When the garden was done, Maria brought cold water for Arkady and Eva and kvass for Roman.

    Wolves Eat Dogs Smith, Martin Cruz, 1942- 2004

  • They drank kvass made of red bilberries, juniper-berries, or of bread — Antonina Ivanovna always carried a stock of different kinds of kvass.

    The Man Who Was Afraid 2003

  • “Waiter!” said Mayakin, gently, on entering the hall of the hotel, and turning toward a remote corner, “let us have a bottle of moorberry kvass.”

    The Man Who Was Afraid 2003

  • He sat by the table, and, bending over it, made drawings of patterns on the tray, dipping his trembling finger in the spilt kvass, and his sharp-pointed head was sinking lower and lower over the table, as though he did not decipher, and could not make out what his bony finger was drawing on the tray.

    The Man Who Was Afraid 2003

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