What does "grog" mean?
An alcoholic beverage made with rum and water, especially that once issued to sailors of the Royal Navy.
Grog
/ɡɹɑɡ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An alcoholic beverage made with rum and water, especially that once issued to sailors of the Royal Navy.
- Grammar: grog is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: alcohol, alcoholic beverage, alcoholic drink, aqua vitae.
- Useful contrasts: nonalcoholic beverage, undiluted rum.
- Usage evidence: I bet you ten bucks that you can't stay off the grog for a month.
How to use "grog"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "grog" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "grog" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "grog" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "grog" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "grog" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "alcohol" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "grog", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An alcoholic beverage made with rum and water, especially that once issued to sailors of the Royal Navy. countable, uncountable
"[…] giving him a calebash, and the best part of a bottle of my rum, I desired him to run to the creek, and make me some grog, and this he did; but the poor fellow, never having made grog before, poured in all the spirits and but very little water, doubtless thinking, that the stronger it was the better; which beverage I swallowed to the bottom, without taking time to taste it, and I became instantly so much intoxicated that I could hardly keep my feet."
- 2 rum cut with water wordnet
- 3 An alcoholic beverage made with rum and water, especially that once issued to sailors of the Royal Navy.; An alcoholic beverage made with hot water or tea, sugar and rum, sometimes also with lemon or lime juice and spices, particularly cinnamon. countable, uncountable
- 4 Any alcoholic beverage. Australia, New-Zealand, broadly, countable, uncountable
"I quite understood their drift, and after a stiff glass of grog, or rather more of the same, and with each a sovereign in hand, they made light of the attack, and swore they would encounter a worse madman any day for the pleasure of meeting so 'bloomin' good a bloke' as your correspondent."
- 5 A glass or serving of an alcoholic beverage. Australia, New-Zealand, countable
"1950, Nevil Shute, A Town Like Alice [The Legacy], New York: William Morrow, Chapter 5, p. 138, Joe […] told them how he had been nailed up to be beaten, and they shouted another grog for him."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A type of pre-fired clay that has been ground and screened to a specific particle size. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To grind and screen (clay) to a specific particle size. transitive
- 2 To drink alcohol. intransitive, slang
"[…] a practice of “equal surrender.” This evocative phrase comes from Basil Sansom's ethnography […] of grogging sessions among Aboriginal communities in Darwin. Sansom argues that this style of communal drinking […]"
Proper Noun
- 1 A male given name of a notional caveman.
"For quotations using this term, see Citations:Grog."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
nonalcoholic beverageundiluted rum
Example
"I bet you ten bucks that you can't stay off the grog for a month."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "grog"?
Common synonyms include: alcohol, alcoholic beverage, alcoholic drink, aqua vitae, ardent spirits, beverage.
How do you use "grog" in a sentence?
I bet you ten bucks that you can't stay off the grog for a month.
How do you pronounce "grog"?
Pronounced /ɡɹɑɡ/.
Etymology
An allusion to Admiral Edward Vernon (nicknamed “Old Grog” after the grogram coat he habitually wore), who in 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be watered down. Alternatively, from Old Catalan grog or groch, modern groc, meaning "yellow" (ultimately from Latin crocum (“saffron”); after the name of the resulting color of the watered down rum sold all over the Mediterranean. The ration of rum tot could also come from Catalan tot meaning "full", "whole".