sherry Hear it!

sherry Definition

sherry (s̸her′ē)

noun pl. -·ries

  1. a Spanish fortified wine varying in color from light yellow to dark brown and in flavor from very dry to sweet
  2. any similar wine made elsewhere

Etymology: taken as sing. of earlier sherris, after Xeres (now Jerez), Spain, where first made

sherry Usage Examples

Preposition: on

  • nose: There%27s oak and sherry on the nose, with a citrus note.

Converse of object

  • drink: During the war, women were allowed into the pubs where they drank sherry or port and lemon.
  • add: Season soup to taste and add sherry just before serving in heated soup bowls.

Adjective modifier

  • complimentary: You will find a decanter of complimentary sherry in your room.
  • dry: Sprinkle over the the port or dry sherry, then spoon over a little of the cooking liquids.
  • sweet: She, the only woman, got a bottle of sweet sherry.
  • fine: Purchase a bottle or two of quality port from Oporto, or fine sherry from Jerez.
  • little: Soak the dried fruit overnight in a little sherry or rum.
  • small: I should have thought a middle class family would have been living in the lap of luxury on a small sherry at Christmas.

Modifies a noun

  • cask: What sets Black Bush apart is its aging in sherry casks for approximately 10 to 11 years.
  • trifle: Wine sauces, sherry trifle, etc are forbidden.
  • butt: This dram's rich gold color is the result of 8 years in a sherry butt.
  • vinegar: Season with the pepper then add the sherry and sherry vinegar allowing it a few seconds to bubble before reducing the heat.
  • sauce: The apricots add a sweet stuffing, which is complemented with a tomato and sherry sauce.
  • reception: During the sherry reception ( at which the sherry ran out!

Noun used with modifier

  • oloroso: Oloroso sherry from Spain A FORTIFIED wine this week - sherry at a bargain price.
  • fino: The cuisine is strongly regional, served with local wines - sparkling Catalan cava or chilled fino sherry from Andalucia.
  • refill: From a refill sherry butt the whiskey has taken on a light sherry color.
  • oak: Whiskey matured in former fresh oak sherry casks will usually be a darker color than that which has been matured in refilled whiskey casks.
  • cream: For the tipsy laird trifle, there is always the cream sherry option.
sherry Quotes

I'm going to throwcaution to the winds and have a sweet sherry.

—Bennett, Alan

'Poe,' I said,'was perhaps the first great nonstop literary drinker of the American nineteenth century. He made the indulgences of Coleridge and De Quincey seem like a bit of mischief in the kitchen with the cooking sherry.

—Thurber,James Grover

The foaminess of the Falls, together with the tinge of tawny yellow in the troubled waters, only reminded me of so much unattainable soda and sherry, and made me feel thirstier than ever.

—Sala, George Augustus Henry

A great deal of contemporary criticism readsto me like a man saying: 'Of course I do not like green cheese: I am very fond of brown sherry'.

—Chesterton, G(ilbert) K(eith)