Definition of "caudle" []

• A warm drink consisting of wine or ale mixed with sugar, eggs, bread, and various spices, sometimes given to ill persons. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And when he would have cuddled and kissed her, and done his proper duty as a husband, and so earned his "caudle", (*) she turned herself first on one side and then on the other, so that he could not attain his purpose, at which he was greatly astonished and angry, and said to her,"
• "What we do not want to do as a democracy is be convinced by business interests and their representatives that we should caudle companies who can only improve profits by squeezing their workforce or who threaten to raise prices whenever they are hit with regulations."
• "He emphatically rejected any suggestion of caudle or broth for breakfast, and snapped irritably at me when I tried to check the dressings on his hand."