to hit the bottle
3
9.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
empezar a beber
- After losing his job, he really started to hit the bottle to cope with the stress.
- hit the bottle hard
Examples
-
And apparently my dad hit the bottle and disappeared, so I was raised by my grandparents.
-
Yeah she uh, hit the bottle pretty hard when my dad died.
-
Years ago I used to hit the bottle.
-
So he hit the bottle again.
-
If you go through a similar experience, try not to hit the bottle -- it's not worth it!
Blog text (3) -
You been hitting the bottle today?
-
Consequently, he hit the bottle more and more regularly.
Fiction book (2001) -
But I hit the bottle so hard I'm not sure whether I came to San Francisco on the bus or on the train.
Fiction book (1997) -
He just likes to hit the bottle.
-
That's why I've been hitting the bottle again lately.
Synonyms
5
8.4
To drink a lot of alcohol
3
9.4
To drink too much alcohol for several days
To drink too much alcohol and feel confused
Antonyms
How Heavily
Surface Forms
Morphology
hit + the + bottle
The literal reading 'to strike a bottle' is unrelated to the idiomatic sense 'to drink heavily'; the connection between 'hit' and heavy or habitual drinking is metaphorical and not transparently derivable from the parts. An average B1 learner who knows 'hit' and 'bottle' would most likely not infer the idiomatic meaning without prior exposure, so this expression functions as an opaque idiom.
Etymology
Hit the bottle may come from the image of someone giving the bottle a hit or simply going back to the bottle again and again to drink. That's why it now means 'to drink a lot of alcohol', often to deal with problems.