Meaning of mare's teat | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see mare, teat.
2. A variety of wine grape from the Central Asian oases with distinctively shaped, brownish-purple fruit.

Examples

“Incidentally, a famous wine grape brought in from the Silk Road, still being used to make wine in the Northwest, is called mare's teat (perhaps because of its shape); because in Chinese the same word is used for both "teat" and "milk," it is sometimes incorrectly rendered in English as "kumiss grape."”

“They also carried the special mare's teat grapes from the oasis of Khocho (packed in ice in lead containers) and sold luxury goods from the west to the Chinese: Sassanian silverware from Persia which had a huge influence on Chinese silverwork, glass vessels and beads from Syria and Babylon, amber from the Baltic, Mediterranean coral, brass for Buddhist images, and purple woollen cloth from Rome.”

“I partied at Aksu until they began to tire of me and started asking whether I wouldn't prefer to pay for my mare's teat grape wine.”

““I have not tasted mare's teat wine in more than two years,” he said. “I should be honoured to be your guest. Shall we invite the prefect to join us?””

“'Excellent!' he exclaimed. 'The finest sweet wine, made from the best mare's teat grapes in Kocho - a valued ally in these troubled times.'”

CEFR level