beer can
23
1.0
- noun
- /bɪr kæn/
:
lata de cerveza
- After the party, we found several empty beer cans scattered across the yard.
- beer cans and bottles
Forget about the drive, Forget about the beer can.
- Forget about the drive, Forget about the beer can.
Examples
-
Richard emerged from the room at the rear, beer can in hand, and hailed her with joy.
Fiction book (1995) -
Russell, there's beer cans in the trash in the kitchen, in the trash in the bathroom, and in the trash in the basement.
-
Wow, I guess I got a beer can collection now.
-
Problem is they roll down their windows in their cars, and throw out their beer cans.
-
The baseball cap is still on, and the beer can is in his hand.
Fiction book (1996) -
I noticed some empty beer cans in the office earlier.
-
The biker throws down his beer can and walks towards the bar.
Fiction book (1995) -
Her gaze went involuntarily to the beer can he still held.
Fiction book (1995) -
Several empty beer cans were on the floor, and the girl's boots bumped against them.
Fiction book (1997) -
Manfred gripped the beer can in his fist and felt its thin mouth bite into his thumb.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
491
1.0
A sealed metal container for food or drink
1
5.1
A tall can of beer larger than a regular can
A can holding beer or another alcoholic drink
How Portable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a metal container for beer' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'beer' (the beverage) with 'can' (a metal vessel); a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the compound refers to a can containing beer. Noun–noun composition of this type is highly productive in English and mirrors common patterns in many other languages, supporting full transparency.
Etymology
Beer can is a simple, literal name: a can is a metal container and it holds beer. When metal cans became common in the 1900s, they made beer easy to carry and keep cold, so the term came to mean 'a metal container for beer'.