drink like a fish, to

To frequently drink a lot of alcohol. I'm not surprised to hear that Karl got drunk again last night—that guy drinks like a fish!

Fig. to drink alcohol excessively; to be in the habit of drinking alcohol excessively. Jeff really drank like a fish at the party on Saturday. I worry about Nancy; she drinks like a fish.

Consume large amounts of alcoholic beverages, as in He always drinks like a fish at holiday dinners. The expression, first recorded in the mid-1600s, alludes to the way fish obtain oxygen, which causes them to be open-mouthed and appear to be constantly drinking.

If someone drinks like a fish, they regularly drink a lot of alcohol. When I was younger I could drink like a fish and eat like a pig. The father was not too bad but the mother drank like a fish. Note: People used to believe that fish drank constantly because they breathe through open mouths.

To drink a great deal, usually meaning alcoholic beverages. The simile comes from the fish’s breathing apparatus, which causes it to be openmouthed much of the time, so that it looks as if it were constantly drinking. The expression is quite old, appearing in print in the mid-seventeenth century, and has outlived drinking like frogs, like elephants, and like knights templar, as well as the medieval proverb, to drink like a pope. The newer synonym to drink under the table calls up an image of inebriated persons rolling under the table.