bottle rat
- noun
- /ˈbɑtəl ræt/
- Offensive
:
gorrón
- She called him a bottle rat after he finished everyone else's drinks.
Examples
-
I knew he was a bottle rat when he hovered near the bar all night.
-
I can't stand bottle rats who only come for the free drinks.
-
Don't invite any bottle rats to the dinner; they just come for the booze.
-
That guy is such a bottle rat at parties.
-
We always avoid inviting bottle rats to our gatherings because they only come for the free drinks.
-
Everyone knows he's a bottle rat; he never buys a round at the bar.
-
She pointed out the bottle rat lurking near the drink table, waiting for more cocktails.
Synonyms
83
1.8
A person who often drinks alcohol
17
5.5
A person who often drinks too much alcohol
3
9.4
A person who often drinks too much alcohol
1
7.7
A person who drinks large amounts of alcohol very quickly
1
8.3
A person who often drinks alcohol like wine or beer
A person who spends a lot of time drinking at bars
A person who drinks a lot of alcohol quickly
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
bottle + rat
The meaning is partially inferable because 'bottle' evokes alcohol and English allows compounding where a noun + 'rat' can mean a person associated with or addicted to something (analogous to 'gym rat'), so a learner could plausibly infer 'someone attached to bottles'. However, this is informal slang and relies on recognizing a non-literal 'X‑rat' pattern and a derogatory person-sense of 'rat' rather than its literal meaning, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would not reliably predict the exact social/drinking sense.
Etymology
Bottle rat likely comes from the image of a rat creeping among empty bottles at a party, always looking for something to drink. That's why it means 'a person who often drinks too much or hangs around bars to get free drinks'.