soft drink
- noun
- /sɔft drɪŋk/
- Would you like a soft drink with your meal?
- sell soft drinks
- buy soft drinks
- bottled soft drinks
It also comes from soft drinks, fruit juices, fruit smoothies.
- It also comes from soft drinks, fruit juices, fruit smoothies.
- So let's do the sugar soft drinks first, OK?
- They actually have just as much sugar as the soft drinks and more of the fructose.
- So what that means is that they said, in fact, these foods, the soft drinks could be sold in schools.
- And we're working for Schweppes, the, the soft drink company.
- I will say, however, that soft drinks like Lacroix come packaged inside a box, so.
- And what I can't get over is, why are you taking the lid off the water but allowing the lid on the soft drinks?
- Thus, the departure from them being quote soft drinks started a long time ago.
- I also have had it with the soft drink free refills.
- I'm stood on top of a bar squirting the soft drinks of people like a water gun.
- It made its money through soft drinks, which that big clubs did make a lot of money.
Examples
-
Current law is limited to beer, carbonated water, soft drinks, and wine coolers.
Academic text (1999) -
Each agent has a silver tray containing soft drinks and a glass pitcher of water.
Fiction book (1996) -
- Hey Joey, you want a soft drink?
-
Please, can I have the honor of getting you ladies a soft drink, huh?
-
- Would you like a soft drink?
-
- A couple of soft drinks.
-
Would you like some coffee, a soft drink, mineral water?
-
I shook my head, remembering the night before, and went inside for a soft drink.
Fiction book (1999) -
Gwen stares at the list of soft drinks, coffee, and tea.
Fiction book (2000) -
Women sold necklaces, soft drinks, and potato chips laid out on small tables.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
A sweet fizzy drink often served cold
A brand name people use to mean any cola drink
A sweet drink made from lemon juice, water, and sugar
A sweet fizzy drink sold in cans or bottles
A sweet fizzy drink with a cola taste that The Coca-Cola Company makes
A sweet fizzy drink flavored with kola nuts, often containing caffeine
A sweet fizzy drink like cola
A sweet, fizzy drink with vanilla that is usually light in color
A sweet fizzy drink sold by the Pepsi company
A sweet fizzy drink people call soda in New England
A cold sweet drink with bubbles like cola
A fizzy drink with a tart, slightly bitter lemon taste
Antonyms
How Alcoholic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'drink' is transparent, but the adjective 'soft' in its usual sense ('not harsh') does not directly signal 'non-alcoholic' to a B1 learner. The meaning relies on a conventional contrast with 'hard' (as in 'hard drink' = alcoholic), so learners who know the constituents may sometimes infer it but many will need exposure to the conventionalized use.
Etymology
Soft drink probably comes from a simple contrast with 'hard' drinks; soft meant not strong or not alcoholic and drink just meant a beverage. That's why today soft drink refers to a nonalcoholic drink like soda or lemonade.