on the rocks
Chilled with cubes
On the rocks describes a drink served over ice cubes: I'll have a whiskey on the rocks.
The phrase also means in serious trouble or falling apart, like a ship run aground: Their marriage is on the rocks.
The drinking sense dominates in everyday use; the troubled sense appears mainly in discussions of relationships or finances.
Orderly, or undiluted
- chilledMade or kept cold
- whiskeyOak-aged grain spirit
- bourbonCorn-based American spirit
- scotchDecisively put an end to
martini · old fashioned · highball · bartender · mixology · cocktail · spirits · ice cubes
Experiencing distress or anxiety
- strainedUnder uncomfortable tension
- turbulentViolently agitated or disturbed
- unstableProne to sudden change
- precariousDangerously insecure
failing · struggling · crisis · discord · friction · rift · breakup · divorce
neat
Orderly, or undiluted
scotch · martini · old fashioned · highball · bartender · mixology · cocktail · spirits · ice cubes · stirred
troubled
Experiencing distress or anxiety
- strainedUnder uncomfortable tension
- turbulentViolently agitated or disturbed
- unstableProne to sudden change
precarious · failing · struggling · crisis · discord · friction · rift · breakup · divorce · separation
boulder
Large weathered stone
shoreline · outcrop · rugged · jagged · granite · precipice · escarpment · gorge · headland · seashore
reef
Underwater rock or coral formation
- maroonedLeft stranded and helpless
- castawayShipwrecked and stranded person
- sinkingFalling through water
adrift · salvage · wreckage · flotsam · jetsam · lighthouse · nautical · distress · lifeboat · survivor
- bar poursshot, jigger, pour, double, single
- drinkingbooze, liquor, guzzling, gulping, chugging
- bar culturebar counter, bar tab, bar tabs, bar stools, bar rail
- breakupsbreakup, breaking up, dumped, dumping, it's over
- Nautical Idiomsbatten down the hatches, all hands on deck, smooth sailing, three sheets to the wind, in the same boat
- sea idiomsall at sea, dead in the water, smooth sailing, sink or swim, miss the boat
on the rocksneat
Orderly, or undiluted
straight up · straight · up · blended · warm
on the rocksgoing strong
Continuing vigorously, undiminished
thriving · flourishing · solid · rock solid · on solid ground
rock, stone, rocky, rocks, stoned, bedrock, stonework, rockiness