bitter

adjective

1. 1

   Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance).

   The coffee tasted bitter.

   Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth[…].

   A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami all set off their own neural cascades.

2. 2

   Harsh, piercing, acerbic or stinging.

   It was at the end of February, […] when the world was cold, and a bitter wind howled down the moors […].

3. 3

   Hateful or hostile.

   They're bitter enemies.

   Tottenham have not won in the Premier League at Emirates Stadium for 12 years, with Arsenal losing just one of their last 29 home league games against their bitter rivals.

   He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable for the debts of others; vented many bitter execrations against the brother; and concluded with wishing something could be done for the unfortunate family.

   Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

4. 4

   Cynical and resentful.

   I've been bitter ever since that defeat.

adverb

1. 1

   To an intense or severe degree; bitterly.

   A dynamic personality in the outfit, he met his death in the bitter-fought engagements in Venafro.

   After that bitter-spoken warning, talk ceased outside […].

   The dream of it ached, bitter and sharp, for that was all it was.

noun

1. 1

   A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.

   Thus I begin: "All is not gold that glitters, "Pleasure seems sweet, but proves a glass of bitters.

2. 2

   A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.

3. 3

   A turn of a cable about the bitts.

verb

1. 1

   archaicTo make bitter.

   bittered with the hop

noun

1. 1

   informalA hardware system whose architecture is based around units of the specified number of bits (binary digits).

   However, 16-bitters are far more expensive than the 8-bit variety. And, unfortunately, have only a handful of business applications software packages that really take advantage of them.

   The company believes that the 32-bit market will almost equal that of 16-bitters by the end of the decade. Chip maker Zilog Inc., not a major player in the 16-bit arena, is even more bullish about 32-bitters as it readies its own version for market.

Forms

plural

bitters

comparative

more bitter, bitterer

superlative

most bitter, bitterest

past tense

bittered

past participle

bittered

present participle

bittering

third person singular

bitters