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Glite Dictionary
ginger ale

ginger ale

38 2.0
A cold fizzy drink flavored with ginger
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɪndʒər eɪl/
translation icon : refresco de jengibre
  • I couldn't eat anything but crackers and ginger ale without throwing up.
  • drink ginger ale
  • soda or ginger ale
  • glass of ginger ale

They can source cases of ginger ale for less money.

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Examples

  • After dinner, my daughter served ginger ale and dropped two ice cubes into my wife's drink.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • After feeling sick, a glass of ginger ale really helped me feel better.

  • You can get me a fresh ginger ale, please.

  • Go get yourself a ginger ale or something.

    The Hessen Affair (2009)

  • Can l get a hot dog with everything and a ginger ale, please?

    S.W.A.T. (2003)

  • I could go for some ginger ale.

    The Front Page (1974)

  • Only later did someone think to get a ginger ale for me.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • "Want to split a ginger ale with me?" I asked her.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • And every night we had a little party, cookies and ginger ale.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I started sipping on some ginger ale, and it made my stomach feel better.

    Blog text (33)

Synonyms

ginger beer
vsginger ale
3 3.0

A fizzy drink with a strong ginger taste that has a little alcohol

is a nonalcoholic fizzy soft drink without fermentation
ginger pop
vsginger ale
  • UK
7.7

A sweet fizzy drink flavored with ginger, like ginger ale

is the common nonalcoholic name rather than a regional term

How Gingery

ginger tea
2 1.0
ginger beer
3 3.0
ginger ale
38 2.0

Surface Forms

ginger ale singular
ginger ales plural

Morphology

ginger + ale

The meaning 'a ginger-flavored drink' is directly derivable from combining 'ginger' (the spice) with 'ale' (a type of drink), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will infer it's a ginger beverage. Although historically 'ale' can imply an alcoholic beer and ginger ale is typically non-alcoholic, this mismatch does not prevent the compound from being compositional and immediately understandable.

Etymology

Ginger ale got its name when people made a fizzy drink from the spicy root ginger and called it a kind of ale, an old word for 'beer'. So today ginger ale means a 'fizzy soft drink' flavored with ginger, often used to help an 'upset stomach'.