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Glite Dictionary
🦷 A brand name 🦷 A mouthwash
Listerine

Listerine

3 3.3
A brand of mouthwash that kills germs and freshens breath
  • proper noun
  • /ˈlɪstəˌrin/
translation icon : Listerine
  • Jim threw up in the toilet, flushed, then rinsed his mouth twice with mint-flavored Listerine.
  • Listerine mouthwash
  • bottle of Listerine
  • gargle Listerine

And then I take some garble Listerine, just start the day feeling real fresh.

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Examples

  • On her way to work, she took a quick swig of Listerine to freshen her breath.

  • - And get some Listerine, too.

    The Wood (1999)

  • Our shared bottle of Listerine.

    Blog text (32)

  • Molly, darling, would you mind giving me a cup of Listerine and an empty cup?

    Working Girls (1987)

  • Just before my bedtime, he would hand me a juice glass with an inch of Listerine in it and time me while I swished it around for one full minute.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • He took a bottle of Listerine out of the glove compartment, poured some into his hands, dabbed it on his face like aftershave, and sprinkled some on his hair and clothes.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • After brushing his teeth, he always rinses his mouth with Listerine to kill germs.

  • He always keeps a bottle of Listerine in his bathroom for a quick refresh before going out.

Synonyms

mouthwash
vsListerine
21 2.1

A liquid you rinse your mouth with to clean it and freshen breath

is the specific brand name for that antiseptic rinse

Surface Forms

Listerine main

Morphology

Listerine = Lister (opaque) = Lister + ine

As a proper-brand name formed from a surname plus '-ine', the morphology does not transparently convey the product meaning for learners.

Etymology

Listerine (the brand) takes its name from the British doctor Lister, with the ending -ine added like many chemical names. Because Joseph Lister promoted ways to stop germs, the brand name reminds you that Listerine is for 'killing germs' and freshening the mouth.