boozer

From booze +‎ -er (agent noun suffix) or (pub) +‎ -er (relational noun suffix).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbuː.zə(ɹ)/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːzə(ɹ)

boozer (plural boozers)

1. (colloquial) One who drinks habitually; a drunkard.
   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman, Faithfully Presented, published 1963, page 25:

     “Tess is a fine figure o′ fun, as I said to myself today when I zeed her vamping round parish with the rest,” observed one of the elderly boozers in an undertone.

   • 1918, Charles Stelzle, Why Prohibition!, published 2008, page 49:

     But they have only one insurance rate for ordinary men — drinkers and non-drinkers, and they compel the man who doesn′t booze to make up for the extra amount that the boozer should pay.

   • 2009 November, Neville Franks, The Lost Boy of the Ozarks, Backpacker, page 82,

     Every swig made me more relaxed, and happy, and I was definitely a boozer again, and I wondered why I had ever thought I wasn't a boozer and I took another pull and I was going to clap BC on the back and thank him for being such a good hotel manager, and faithful guide, for being my friend, and then I passed out.

2. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) A public house, pub.
   • 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     Zoe’s dad went to the same boozer every day, a flat-roofed pub on the edge of the estate, with the cross of St George hanging above the door and a ferocious-looking Rottweiler tied up outside.

   • 2014 July 25, The Guardian‎:

     During the week, the players were just as likely to be spotted out together in a local pub such as the Four in Hand. It was even known for them to frequent the Marksman off Carters Green, one of the town’s roughest boozers.

3. (UK, military, obsolete) A World War II fighter radar detector, fitted to British bombers.
4. (Africa) A vehicle equipped with tanks for supplying water to remote locations.
   • 2010 June 8, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), page 2,

     Mr. Mututho: Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Assistant Minister should assure the people of Vihiga that they will get a water boozer because the sick people are not party to this complication. Could he assure the people that he can send a boozer in his capacity even if he cannot supply power or a standby generator, so that they can have a small well?

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:boozer.

• (drunkard): See Thesaurus:drunkard
• (public house): See Thesaurus:pub
• (radar detector):
• (water-supply vehicle): bowser, tanker

• booze

• rebozo