Definition of "libation" []

• The pouring of a liquid offering as a religious ritual. (noun)
• The liquid so poured. (noun)
• Informal A beverage, especially an intoxicating beverage. (noun)
• Informal The act of drinking an intoxicating beverage. (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.

• "Analogous to offering liquid food to be poured out as a libation was the custom of anointing sacred objects or hallowed places."
• "It was customary, moreover, to pour out wine upon the altar, a so-called libation, as a seal of the offering."
• "Or perhaps the term "libation" would be better than "feast," for the show unfurls largely on designer Kevin Rigdon's atmospheric Bronx pub set, with a beer-pitcher-laden table and a bottle-crammed bar flanking a window often streaked with rain."