Also kirschen-. [Ger. kirsch(en)wasser, f. kirsche cherry + wasser water.] An alcoholic spirit distilled in Germany and Switzerland from a fermented liquor obtained by crushing wild cherries.
1819. Scott, Leg. Montrose, ii. We had drunk … about two mutchkins of kirschenwasser.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, VIII. iv. A bottle of Kerchen Wasser, from the Black Forest.
1855. ‘E. S. Delamer,’ Kitchen Garden (1861), 148. The famous cordials known as kirschwasser and maraschino.
