Meaning of aqua fortis | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Nitric acid.
   archaic, uncountable
2. A corrosive liquor made of saltpeter, serving as a solvent for dissolving silver and all other metals except gold.
   uncountable
3. Any strong and potentially dangerous alcoholic drink.
   dated, dialectal, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“this man’s whiskey ain’t Red Eye, it ain’t Chain Lightnin’ either, it’s regular Agur-forty, and there isn’t a man living can stand a glass and keep his senses.”

““Watkey” [vodka] is, in fact, aquafortis, and more injurious than any other spirit.”

“Doubtless the drinking of liquor adds to the cost of our judiciary; doubtless it is responsible for some crime; but the question at issue is not one of liquor-drinking vs. teetotalism—it is a question of drinking licensed liquor or Prohibition aquafortis.”

“Here’s to her health and to her offspring haughty — And let the toast be drunk in aqua forty.”

“I’m in the best of spirits, the very best! Nothing like a few glasses of agur-forty to make a man feel on top of the world!”

CEFR level