to hold one's drink
- idiom
- Informal
:
aguantar la bebida
- Never dance with a man who cannot hold his drink.
Examples
-
After a few rounds at the pub, I realized I could hold my drink better than most of my friends.
-
And you got someone who can hold their drink who has three.
-
I can hold my drink.
-
He could hold his drink.
-
Rich Slater could hold his drink, he liked to say.
Fiction book (1995) -
Fuckin' poobutt can't hold her drink.
-
"Smiling coolly, The Blade held his drink so the amber brown liquor inside caught the flickering light from the fireplace.
Fiction book (1994) -
Some people can hold their drink without getting tipsy, while others become loud and silly after just one beer.
-
Even though he had been drinking for hours, he managed to hold his drink and stay composed.
Synonyms
91
8.4
To drink alcohol without appearing drunk
1
7.8
Drink alcohol without getting drunk
Can drink alcohol without getting drunk quickly
To drink alcohol without becoming very drunk or sick
How Tolerant
- Informal
- Informal
1
7.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The tolerance meaning is related to the literal senses: 'hold' (keep/maintain) plus 'drink' (alcohol) can suggest maintaining composure while drinking, so there is a recognizable link. However, a B1 learner could also interpret it literally (physically holding a beverage), and the specific sense of alcohol tolerance is somewhat idiomatic and typically learned from exposure or cross-linguistic parallels, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Hold one's drink may come from the simple image of someone who can hold a drink steady and keep it down instead of spilling or being sick after drinking. That's why the phrase means 'to be able to drink alcohol without becoming drunk or losing control'.