washing sherry
- noun
- Archaic
:
fino
- I enjoyed a glass of washing sherry before dinner.
Examples
-
He poured himself a small glass of washing sherry as the guests arrived.
-
Her parents always kept a bottle of washing sherry for dinner parties.
-
Many people in Britain enjoy a washing sherry before beginning their evening meal.
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Have you tried washing sherry with your appetizers?
-
Many people in Britain enjoy a washing sherry before beginning their evening meal.
-
He poured himself a small glass of washing sherry as the guests arrived.
-
Her parents always kept a bottle of washing sherry for dinner parties.
Synonyms
52
5.4
A wine with added alcohol from southern Spain, often dry or sweet, served before a meal
1
8.5
A dry pale Spanish sherry often served cold before a meal
1
9.3
A very dry pale Spanish sherry wine from near the sea
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
The combination 'washing' (cleaning) + 'sherry' (fortified wine) does not transparently yield the sense 'a light, low-alcohol aperitif' — the sense of 'washing' here is specialized or archaic and is not predictable from its everyday meaning. This is a language-specific/idiomatic culinary usage that a B1 learner who knows the individual words would unlikely infer, so it is opaque.
Etymology
Washing sherry may come from the idea of using a light wine to 'wash' the mouth before a meal; people would sip a weak washing sherry to freshen the mouth. That's why the term now means a low-alcohol sherry served 'before a meal'.