proof spirit

noun

an alcoholic liquor, or mixture of alcohol and water, containing a standard amount of alcohol. In the U.S. proof spirit has a specific gravity of .93353 (containing one half of its volume of alcohol of a specific gravity of .7939 at 60° F). In Britain proof spirit has a specific gravity of .91984.

Origin of proof spirit

First recorded in 1735–45

Words nearby proof spirit

proof, proof of concept, proof of the pudding, proof of the pudding, the, proof sheet, proof spirit, proof stress, proof theory, proof-of-purchase, proofing, proofread

Example sentences from the Web for proof spirit

  • Afterwards it may be bathed with a lotion, (made of nitric acid one drachm, to proof-spirit one ounce,) and then returned.

    The Dog |Dinks, Mayhew, and Hutchinson

British Dictionary definitions for proof spirit

proof spirit

noun

(in Britain and Canada) a mixture of alcohol and water or an alcoholic beverage that contains 49.28 per cent of alcohol by weight, 57.1 per cent by volume at 51°F: up until 1980 used as a standard of alcoholic liquids
(in the US) a similar standard mixture containing 50 per cent of alcohol by volume at 60°F