Also β. vodki, -ky; γ. votku, votky. [Russ. водка (gen. sing. водки), pronounced (vǫ·tka).] An ardent spirit used in Russia, chiefly distilled from rye, but also from barley, potatoes or other materials.
α. 1802–3. trans. Pallas’s Trav. (1812), II. 484. The principal imports are … Sekiskaya-Vodka, or brandy distilled from fruit.
1833. R. Pinkerton, Russia, 74. The peasantry … still prefer their national brandy, called vodka.
1883. C. Reade, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 253/1. A young fellow … brings … me a flask of vodka.
β. 1830. Edinb. Encycl., XVII. 514/2. The Russian nobles do not drink ardent spirits, vodki, in the morning.
1885. A. J. C. Hare, Russia, i. 24. Vodki (corn brandy) is the chief means of intoxication.
1891. Blackw. Mag., Oct., 470/2. Anything which his understanding failed to connect directly with the price of bread and ‘vodky.’
γ. 1855. Englishwoman in Russia, 86. The government revenues are in great part acquired by the sale of votku.
1891. Pall Mall G., 27 Aug., 7/1. A large tame bear, which had been trained … to drink votky … entered a village tavern.
b. attrib., as vodka bottle, flask, etc.
1876. Mar. M. Grant, Sun-Maid, xxxiii. He hastily searched the room and found a vodka flask.
1882. E. O’Donovan, Merv Oasis, i. 1–2. After the fashion of Russia generally, the majority of these [houses] consisted of rum and vodka shops.
1903. Times, 8 Sept., 7/2. The establishment of the vodka monopoly … strained the resources of Russian credit.
